The heat from inside the earth causes the material of the mantle to permanently rise up along the ocean ridges, resulting in the formation of a dense basaltic crust which slowly rolls away from the ridge, much like a rug being rolled up. How did alfred wegener use landforms to help make a case for his theory of continental drift. Continental drift, sea floor spreading and plate tectonics. Set forth in 1912 by alfred wegener, a geophysicist and meteorologist, continental drift also. Continental drift and plate tectonics university of iceland. Pangaea puzzle pieces with images continents and oceans. Since the continents floated on the plates, the plate tectonic theory provided the much needed mechanism for wegners continental drift theory. The continental jigsaw puzzle can you reassemble a supercontinent from a jigsaw puzzle. Handson geography activity free printable pangaea puzzle. The continents, which are made of an insubmersible lightweight crust, passively drift with the movement of the lithospheric plates on which they sit. The theory of continental drift is most associated with the scientist alfred wegener. Wegner proposed that during continental drift, larger continents broke through the oceanic crust. Continental drift refers to the movement of the continents relative to each other.
The continental drift hypothesis was developed in the early part of the 20th century, mostly by alfred wegener. The speculation that continents might have drifted was first put forward by abraham ortelius in 1596. You can alway tell the quality of an airport by whether or not they have a good sushi bar. Seafloor spreading theory sfst seafloor spreading describes the movement of. In this continental drift and fossils worksheet, students complete a puzzle of the continents and they answer questions about fossils, the layers of the earths crust, wegeners continental drift theory and the. Cut out each of the continents along the edge of the continental shelf the outermost dark line. A brief overview of the theory of continental drift and the evidence supporting it. All continents were once connected as one large landmass now called pangaea.
He proposed the continental drift theory in 1912 and was the laughing stock in geology circles until the 1950s. A plate tectonic puzzle american museum of natural history. Continental drift, sea floor spreading and plate tectonics plate tectonics is a theory developed in the late 1960s, to explain how the outer layers of the earth move and deform. Fossils of tropical plants are found near the equator. Abraham ortelius was the first geographer who proposed this phenomenon in 1596. On the puzzle pieces handout, assign a color to each type of fossil or mountain belt in the legend and color the areas on the landmasses. The continents that once formed pangaea have coasts that fit together like pieces of an puzzle. Click on popout icon or print icon to worksheet to print or download.
Can you reassemble a supercontinent from a jigsaw puzzle. Its kind of annoying to wait around in the airport lounge with nothing to do. Fossils, puzzle fit, glacial grooves, rock strata, mountain belts. Have student groups make jigsaw puzzles if you have not made these yourself in advance, and. Continental drift shifting and colliding cultures scroll or use your keys. The continental drift hypothesiscontinents have moved slowly to their current locations 1. This was the time when reptiles and winged insects first appeared. Jan 02, 2016 the pupils will explore how the continents have drifted and exactly why. While wegener was alive, scientists did not believe that the continents could move. Continental drift is the theory that the earths continents have moved over geologic time relative to each other, thus appearing to have drifted across the ocean bed.
The theory was independently developed in 1912 by alfred wegener, but it was rejected due to lack of mechanism which was introduced by arthur holmes. Alfred wegener and continental drift it was not until 1912 that the idea of moving continents was seriously considered as a fullblown scientific theory called continental drift introduced in two articles published by a 32yearold german meteorologist named alfred lothar wegener alfred lothar wegener 18801930 earned a. Give an example of evidence from land features that supported wegeners idea of continental drift. Wegener said that continents move around on earths surface and that they were once joined together as a single supercontinent. All continents were once connected in a single large landmass. Color the legend on the puzzle pieces handout according to the key. We would like to show you a description here but the site wont allow us. Continental drift germantown municipal school district. Worksheets are inside earth work, pangaea puzzle, pangaea puzzle, continental drift activity packet, this dynamic planet, reconstructing pangea, sixth grade plate tectonics, activity a plate tectonic puzzle. Continental drift and plate tectonics worksheet crossword puzzle. Puzzle of the plates grades 56 physical science plates are solid pieces of earths crust that float on a layer of the upper mantle that is partially melted rock. Learning objectives n students will describe the motion of tectonic plates.
A small educational game for desktop computers, laptops and tablets, which may be played in the web browser. Wegener observed the similarities of coastlines between continents that were separated by oceans. According to the continental drift theory, the supercontinent pangaea began to break up about 225200 million years ago, eventually fragmenting into the continents as we know them today. Are evidence for continental drift includes several fossil organisms found on different landmasses. Rodinia supercontinent pangea animation for kids pangaea ultima animation map pangea with 500 x 539 161 kb jpeg pangea activity cut out printable pangea puzzle worksheet cut out pangea cutouts for learning about continental drift and plate techtonics great for the map pangea activity that we have planned in our unit planning. Give an example of evidence from land features that. There is attached a puzzle for pupils to use as a jigsa. Pangea flip book and continental drift scientific theory info. Continental drift theory evidences and limitations. Wegeners evidence to support his theory of continental drift the puzzlelike fit of the south. Under each flap of the evidence foldable, explain how that evidence supports continental drift. Alfred wegener noticed what most grade school children notice when presented with a world map, i. One think wegener was unable to explain before he died was why the plates moved. However, little tectonics refers to the deformation of earths crust and results in the forma.
Jun 04, 2018 continental drift is a phenomenon which explains how the earths continents move on the surface of the ocean bed. In the early 20th century, wegener published a paper explaining his theory that the continental landmasses were drifting across the earth, sometimes plowing through oceans and. The more obvious evidence is that it appears the continental borders appear as if they would fit together like a puzzle. Critics had about wegeners continental drift hypothesis. Then in the mid1900s, scientists proved that tectonic plates move. The use of the jigsaw puzzle analogy as one of the evidences of his theory, too was not taken well. The land mass broke apart, and the continents drifted to their present positions. Mar 12, 2017 printable simplified 7 continent puzzle map copy. Use the map of the world above and explain which continents appear to fit together like puzzle pieces.
Continental drift interactive simulations edumedia. The theory of continental drift continental drift discovery the world alfred wegener theory of continental drift continental drift p95 red book, 182 in sciencesaurus theory that continents were once part of a single landmass that broke apart and have moved to their present locations. Starting with pangaea, draw how the continents would look, then as continental drift was in progress, then color in the present day world map. Remains of mesosaurus are limited to eastern south america and southern africa. The blank map of the world can be used for pupils to draw on the plate boundaries with the direction of movement. Dec 19, 2017 continental drift was a theory that explained how continents shift position on earths surface. Puzzle of the plates focus plate tectonics grade level 56 physical science focus question how do tectonic plates move, and what are the consequences of these movements. Pangaea online puzzle is a free online knowledge level game, about the ancient continent of pangaea. Alfred wegeners fossil evidence for continental drift is shown on the cutouts. Polar wandering similar to continental drift theory polar wandering is the relative movement of the earths crust and upper mantle with respect to the rotational poles of the earth.
What can you notice about the coasts of south america and africa. The teacher could also provide a dryerase map on a projector or a blank world map underneath a document camera that the students could use to present their findings for the whole class to. The theory of continental drift suggests that north and south america were connected with europe and africa and antarctic was attached and closer to the equator. It is super interesting to talk about the possibility of pangaea. The theory has caused a revolution in the way we think about the earth. They broke apart about 200 million years ago and drifted apart to their current positions. Fossils of ancient plants and animals provide evidence for continental drift. They also offered explanations about how the plates move. If a globe is available, this will reduce any distortion from the. Of the world map best of printable world maps world maps map printable blank blank. Students will learn about alfred wegener, continental drift, seafloor spreading, and convection in earths mantle. Just follow the steps modeled by the characters and discuss how the activity pertains to the con. What are four pieces of evidence for continental drift. This was observed and noted as early as 1596 by abraham ortelius continental drift.
Some continents match up like jigsaw puzzle pieces. Tectonic plates move atop the underlying mantle, a really thick layer of hot flowing rock. Different rock structures are found on different continents. It is made up of thick, interconnecting pieces called tectonic plates that fit together like a puzzle. As time progressed, other forms of evidence emerged supporting that the continents were once joined as one. The continental jigsaw puzzle can you reassemble a super. They appear to be able to fit together, like jiggsaw puzzle pieces what does this suggest about where they were located in the past. Students will be given blank puzzle pieces that they will try to put together in 3 minutes or less. It was no mystery that africa and south america appear to fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. Many secular historians think that a long, long time ago they think millions of years ago, the continents were not continents but one body. Part of the earth that goes around the core and is solid mantle 6.
The theory of continental drift cryptogram puzzle ideal emergency sub plan. An idea before its time the idea that continents, particularly south america and africa, fit together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle originated with improved world maps. Puzzle of the plates grades 56 physical science plates rub together, huge stresses are set up that can cause portions of the rock to break, resulting in earthquakes. There is attached a puzzle for pupils to use as a jigsaw creating pangaea and then creating modern day world. The puzzle pieces relate to how the continents were once connected together. A brief introduction to alfred wegeners theory of continental drift, which would lay the groundwork for the development of plate tectonic theory, which essentially explains the geology of the earth. Pdf plate tectonics crossword western reserve public media. The students will be able to identify the evidence for continental drift and locate them on a map the students will begin exploring movement of plate tectonics and seafloor spreading the students will be able to calculate the rate of continental movement. Continental drift theory continental drift is the hypothesis that all the continents had once been joined together in a single landmass. Learn about continental drift and the super continent pangaea and print out a pangaea flip book activity for kids. Next, fill out the evidence foldable with four pieces of evidence mentioned in the reading passage.
This lesson teaches students about continental drift and what causes it to occur. These men helped establish the idea of continental drift, but alfred wegener spent much time exploring and researching to prove this theory. Introduce the idea that the continents have not always been in their present positions by asking pupils to look for the apparent match in the coastlines of africa and south america. My friends and i are here to present my theory of continental drift, which i published in the year 1915. Many people had observed clues about earths past and could not put them together to solve the puzzle about how the earth operated or. Really hope the padar airport installs free wifi soon. The alantic coastlines of south america and africa fit together. The geography knowledge board include 9 modern regions to play with. Thorough india map outline for print world map puzzle pdf asia continent drawing empty map of europe and asia world map pdf file outline map of north africaback to 53 well defined india map. You will be piecing together a puzzle of the supercontinent pangaea based on fossil and rock evidence on the presentday continents. Plate tectonics is the theory that explains how large pieces of the earths outermost layer, called tectonic plates, move and change shape. Seven continents map elementary printable continents map. Continental drift, largescale horizontal movement of continents relative to one another and to the ocean basins during one or more episodes of geologic time.
So many people come here looking for maps of pangea and gondwanaland that i. This concept was an important precursor to the development of the theory of plate tectonics, which incorporates it. A supercontinent that existed 250 million years ago which included most of the earths continental landmasses pangea 11. A jigsaw puzzle with no mechanism1 continents a jigsaw puzzle with no mechanism hind e b t h e y r s o c t i e s n e c h e t alfred wegener figure 1 early explorers noticed the apparent fit of coastlines shared between continents separated by great distances. Continental drift the emergence and evolution of plate. Continental drift and seafloor spreading notes blank version. At once it was readily accepted by most all geologists. Since the development of the theory, geologists have had to reexamine almost every aspect of. The pupils will explore how the continents have drifted and exactly why.
You will be piecing together a puzzle of the supercontinent pangea based on fossil and rock evidence on the present day continents. Rock ages even before geochronology, the relative framework of rock ages showed strong correlation across the atlantic, as did. This video explores how the apparent fit of the continents, fossil and rock correlation, and paleoclimate data. Use those same colors to color each type of fossil or mountain belt according to your legend. Anyone whos ever experienced an earthquake or seen a volcano knows that the phrase solid ground doesnt always apply. In this continental drift and fossils worksheet, students complete a puzzle of the continents and they answer questions about fossils, the layers of the earths crust, wegeners continental drift theory and the major plates. Nov 29, 2012 a brief introduction to alfred wegeners theory of continental drift, which would lay the groundwork for the development of plate tectonic theory, which essentially explains the geology of the earth. Be sure to follow my tpt store by clicking on the gre. The earth spinning cannot cause less dense continental crust to plow through more dense and rigid oceanic crust. Students will be working in pairs to better understand continental drift theory. Alfred wegener developed theory of continental drift alfred wegener was a german meteorologist studied weather credited with development of the continental. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. The theory of plate tectonics explains how plates and their continents move.
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