1. Learning Targets
Learning Target #9 I can explain the theory of Continental Drift, and how it was developed. Learning Target #10 I can infer past and future movements of Earth’s plates using evidence from the theory of Plate Tectonics.
LT#9
LT#10
Evidence of plate tectonics- evidence for where plates were in the past and evidence for where they are going.
Law of Uniformitarianism

2. Vocabulary (Put in Index of Lab Notebook)
Pangaea
Continental Drift
Lithosphere
Asthenosphere
Plate Tectonics
Tectonic Plates
Law of Uniformitarianism

3. Introduction to Plate Tectonics
Video Hook

4. Getting to Know Continental Drift
What is a major difference between the Lithosphere and the Asthenosphere?
How do the Lithosphere and the Asthenosphere interact?
Who is Alfred Wegner?
What was “Pangea”?
What is the theory of Continental Drift?
What evidence did Alfred Wegner have to support his claim about Continental Drift?
Why did people reject Alfred Wegner’s idea?
What is the theory of Plate Tectonics?
How does Plate Tectonics differ from Continental Drift?
Which natural processes occur as a result of plate tectonics?
Pass out differentiated reading for note-taking

5. Tectonic Plate
Labels- lithosphere, asthenosphere, convection currents, North American plate, Eurasian plate, Mid-Ocean Ridge
(animation)

6. 1. What is the major difference between the Lithosphere and the Asthenosphere?
The lithosphere has rocks that are rigid and can bend, but cannot flow
The asthenosphere has rocks that are “plastic” and can flow because of convection
Questions 1-10 answered from reading

7. 2. How do the Lithosphere and the Asthenosphere interact?
The lithosphere is broken up into several large tectonic plates. The continents and oceans are attached to the top of these plates.
The lithosphere plates ride on top of the flowing asthenosphere.

8. 3. Who is Alfred Wegener?
German scientist who developed the theory of Continental Drift.

9. 4. What was “Pangea?”
Pangea was a supercontinent where all of Earth’s continents were once joined together.

10. 5. What is the theory of Continental Drift?
Continental Drift- a theory that states that over time, the continents of Pangea split apart and drifted to their current locations on the globe.

11. 6. What evidence did Alfred Wegener have to support his claim about Continental Drift?
Along the coastlines of Africa and South America, he noticed:
That the coastlines looked like they might fit together like puzzle pieces
The same plant and animal fossils were found

12. Wegner’s Evidence for Continental Drift
Mesosaurus: a freshwater reptile fossil found in Africa and South America.
Glossopteris; a fern that requires warm climates was found on Antarctica, Southern South America, Australia, Southern Africa and India.

13. 7. Why did people reject Alfred Wegener’s idea?
His theory of Continental Drift did not explain how and why the continents moved.

14. 8. What is the Theory of Plate Tectonics?
Plate Tectonics- Theory that the lithosphere is broken into plates (which hold oceans and continents) which are moving slowly around the planet due to convection currents in the asthenosphere.
Use topographical maps to show the different plate boundaries. Locate the plate boundary closest to us.

15. Use topographical maps to show the different plate boundaries
Use topographical maps to show the different plate boundaries. Locate the plate boundary closest to us.

16. So, How Do Those Plates Actually Move?
Simulation

17. 9. How does Plate Tectonics differ from Continental Drift?
Plate Tectonics and Continental Drift are the same basic process. However…
Plate Tectonics explains how and why continents move because of advanced technology, but Continental Drift does not.

18. 10. Which natural processes occur as a result of Plate Tectonics?
Creation of mountains
Earthquakes
Volcanic eruptions
Creation of underwater mountain ranges

19. WELCOME TO THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE!

20. Far Flung Fossils Vocabulary
Fossil- the remains of once living animals or plants.
Law of Superposition- rock layers at the bottom are the oldest because they were formed first; rock layers at the top is the youngest because it was formed last.

21. Far Flung Fossils Activity Directions- Day 1
Start your journey at the continent at your table.
You will investigate the fossils in one rock layer at a time, beginning with the youngest layer (modern times-blue). Use your catalog to help you identify them, and record them on your chart in your notebook.
Then, you will dig into deeper, older rock layers.
You should finish with the oldest rock layer (300mya-red).
When time is called, pack your bags and fly to the next continent (go in numerical order).
*8 goes to 9, 9 to 10, 10 to 1.

22. Far Flung Fossils Activity Directions- Day 2
Trace and label 4 “Globes” in your lab notebook.
Grab a stack of continents from the lab counters
Working with one color at a time, arrange the continents location by using the fossil evidence you gathered yesterday. (2 minutes)
Share out your ideas with the class.
Glue mini-continents into your “Globes”
Answer Question 4b after making each arrangement by time period
Develop a reason for arranging the continents the way that you did for each time period.

23. Fossils and Living Animals Found on 5 Continents of Gondwanaland?#
Time
South America
Africa
India
Australia
Antarctica
Present Day
(Blue)
Giant Anteater
Earthworm Genus 2, Species 2
Aardvark
Earthworm Genus 2, Species 1
Pangolin
Earthworm Genus 1, Species 2
Echidna
Earthworm Genus 1, Species 1
None #3
100 Million Years Ago (Green)
Secernosaurus
Kentrosaurus
Brachyopodosaurus
Austrosaurus
Minmi #2
200 Million Years Ago (Yellow)
Mesosaurus
Later Glossopteris Flora
Dicroidium Flora
Lystrosaurus #1
300 Million Years Ago (Red)
Early Glossopteris Flora
Far Flung Fossils Activity

24. Far Flung Fossils Debriefing
Based on the activity, what evidence did Alfred Wegener offer to support his theory of Continental Drift?

25. What are Glaciers?
Huge amounts of snow, ice and rock debris that accumulate in great quantities and begin to flow outwards and downwards under the pressure of their own weight.
They are just sheets of ice that move over land. They do not move continents!

26. Glacial Grooves
Deep trenches in the land caused by glaciers moving

27. Present Day Continent Locations

28. Far Flung Fossils Answer Key
Q- 1a. On the basis of what you found in the red rocks, which continents had similar fossils? A- All of the continents had similar fossils.

29. Far Flung Fossils Answer Key
Q- 1b. On the basis of what you found in the red rocks, from this fossil evidence, which continents seem to have been connected 300 million years ago? A- All of the continents seem to have been connected.

30. Far Flung Fossils Answer Key
Q- 2a. On the basis of what you found in the yellow rocks, which continents had similar fossils? A- All had similar plant fossils. South America and Africa had Mesosaurus. Antarctica, India, and Africa had Lystrosaurus.

31. Far Flung Fossils Answer Key
Q- 2b. On the basis of what you found in the yellow rocks, from this fossil evidence, what can you tell about the connections of the 5 continents about 200 million years ago? A- The continents were probably very close together, but beginning to move apart.

32. Far Flung Fossils Answer Key
Q- 3a. On the basis of what you found in the green rocks, which continents had similar fossils? A- Only Australia and Antarctica had similar fossils.

33. Far Flung Fossils Answer Key
Q- 3b. On the basis of what you found in the green rocks, from this fossil evidence, which continents seem to have been connected 100 millioin years ago? A- Only Australia and Antarctica

34. Far Flung Fossils Answer Key
Q- 4b. Explain your reasons for putting the continents together as you did for each time period. A-
300 mya (red): They all contained the same fossils. They fit together like puzzle pieces. Glacial grooves showed where the glacier started and spread to.
200 mya (yellow): Continents had similar plant fossils, but not all the same animal fossils. This suggests they were moving apart.
100 mya (green): Except for Australia and Antartica, each continent had its own distinct (different) fossils.
Today (blue): Continents are in their present day position. Fossils are completely different.

35. Far Flung Fossils Answer Key
Q- 5a. Suppose you were the first person to have found the glacial grooves in south-eastern South America. From where would it seem the glacier came? Could the glacier have come from the ocean? A- Glacier seems to have come from the ocean. No, glaciers cannot move across oceans.

36. Far Flung Fossils Answer Key
Q- 5b. Why would the geologist who first found the glacial grooves in India be puzzled by the discovery? A- It seems the glaciers would be spreading out from the equator (hottest region of Earth). Glaciers always start at the coldest point.

37. Far Flung Fossils Answer Key
Q- 5c. How might the idea of continental drift explain 300 million year old glacial grooves on four separate southern continents? A- When the continents were together, a large glacier formed at the coldest point and spread out in all directions.

38. Far Flung Fossils Answer Key
Q- 5d. Where on the surface of the Earth was the probable location of the “x” 300 million years ago? (Remember, that a continental glacier moves out and away from its center) A- The “x” on Africa was probably at or near the South Pole

39. Far Flung Fossils Answer Key
Q- 5e. Where would you look for glacial grooves in the 300 million year old rock of Antarctica? A- On the coastlines closest to Africa (arrows should be pointing downward)

40. Far Flung Fossils Answer Key
Q- 6. Two species of living earthworms in the soils of southern South America and Africa were found to be very closely related. Also, 2 species of living earthworms in soils of southern India and southern Australia were found to be very closely related. How is the theory of Continental Drift strengthened by the evidence of closely related earthworms on widely separated continents? A- When South America and Africa were connected, they had the same soil and earthworms. When the continents separated, the earthworms would have changed a little bit (because they had to adapt to their new soil environment).

41. Far Flung Fossils Answer Key
Q- 7. Explain in terms of Continental Drift and evolution how 4 very different kinds of ant/termite eaters could occur in most of the continents. A- After the continents separated, different ant eaters developed to eat the insects on that continent. However, they are similar because they came from the same ancestor from when the continents were connected. (Isolation of Mammals)

42. Far Flung Fossils Answer Key #8a
Reason #1: Continents fit together like puzzle pieces
Evidence #1: South America and Africa fit together almost perfectly.

43. Far Flung Fossils Answer Key #8a
Reason #2: Similar plant fossils on separate continents
Evidence #2:
Early Glossopteris Flora (warm climate plant) fossils found on all continents

44. Far Flung Fossils Answer Key #8a
Reason #3: Similar animal fossils on separate continents
Evidence #3:
Mesosaurus on S. America and Africa
Lystrosaurus on India, Antarctica, and Africa.
Minmi was on Australia and Antarctica

45. Far Flung Fossils Answer Key #8a
Reason #4: Glacial Grooves
Evidence #4:
Glacial grooves were found on many continents, but glaciers can’t move over water.
Glacial grooves are found on Africa, but that’s too near the equator. Africa must have moved from the South Pole area.

46. Far Flung Fossils Answer Key #8a
Reason #5: Isolation (separation) of mammals
Evidence #5: Mammals didn’t exist until after the continents split up. Different anteaters from the same ancestor on Pangea are found on separate continents.
How many ant-eaters would we have if all of the continents were connected? Just one.
We have 4 types of ant eaters, each on a different continent. All have a similar diet of bugs, all look similar. How can this be? (adapted to environment)
But how are they still so alike?
They have a common ancestor (like a great great great great grandparent) that lived on Pangea, which cause them to be related. However, they are slightly different because they have to adapt to their own unique environment on their own continent.

47. Other Evidence of Plate Tectonics
Reason #6
Movement of continents can be measured
Evidence #6
Global positioning satellites (GPS) show that Europe and North America are moving apart by about 2.3cm every year.

48. Other Evidence of Plate Tectonics
Reason #7
Matching mountain ranges on coastlines
Evidence #7
The Appalachian Mountains in North America match up with Mountain Ranges on the coast of Africa

49. What is the Law of Uniformitarianism?
Law of Uniformitarianism- the idea that the way things happen today is the way things have always happened in the past, and the way they will continue to happen in the future.
Example: if animals with wings fly today, we can infer that fossilized animals with wings were probably able to fly.

50. Applying the Law of Uniformitarianism to Plate Tectonics
Use the Law of Uniformitarianism to explain how you know Pangea once existed.
Since we know the speed and direction continents move today (by GPS), we can make inferences about where they have been in the past. If some continents are moving apart now, they must have been together in Pangea.
Infer where continents will be located on our globe in the future.
In the future, they will probably rejoin to be a new and different supercontinent.

51. Warm-Up
Use your Argumentation checklist (Claim, Reason, Evidence, Rationale) to answer the question below:
What was Alfred Wegener’s CLAIM?

52. Warm-Up
Write out the questions and answers in your lab notebook. Use your colored diagram of the layers of the Earth to assist you.
Which main layer of the Earth contains the asthenosphere?
Which main layer of the Earth contains the lithosphere?
Which main layer of the Earth contains the continents and oceans?

53. Warm-Up
Review the Plate Tectonics simulation.
List 2-3 wonderings, comments, or inferences about plate movement.

54. Warm-Up
Read the first page of Far Flung Fossils packet carefully. Be prepared to be called on to share what we will be doing today.
Page through the remainder of the catalog to see the types of fossils you will encounter today.

55. Warm-Up
Record LT#10 in your Table of Contents and your next available notebook space (probably after your fossil chart) Learning Target #10 I can infer past and future movements of Earth’s plates using evidence from the theory of Plate Tectonics.

56. Warm-Up
Write 3-5 sentences about what you learned during the Far Flung Fossils activity from the previous 2 class periods.
Show how this meets LT #10