Absentee - Alfred Wegener and Continental

Drift
Wednesday, 18 March 2020
3:44 PM
 
Watch the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Np9ADpKnBSY
 
1. Who was Alfred Wegener? 2. What were some of the questions Wegener asked (or things that he
noticed)? List at least three.
- How could one type of plant species got from one side of the world to the other?
- How were there the same type of plant species on different sides of the world?
- Did the animals evolve in both places at once?
 
2. What is the theory he came up with to explain what we has noticing?
He proposed that the continents were once compressed into a single protocontinent which he called Pangaea
(meaning "all lands"), and over time they have drifted apart into their current distribution.
 
4. Did other scientists believe his theory?
 They did not believe it at first, but when Alfred started showing them how and what happened they all
wanted to know about it.
Read the Text: http://www.ck12.org/earth-science/Continental-Drift/lesson/Continental-Drift/r23/
 
5. What year was Alfred Wegener born?
1st November, 1880

6. What did he notice about the fossils that scientists had found?
That they were the same fossils on other countries on the other
 
7. What are six things that supported Wegener's Theory of Continental Drift?
 
_____ fossil found in different parts of the world were the same
 
_____ weather patterns in different parts of the world were the same
 
_____ mountain ranges with the same rock types, structures, and ages are now on opposite sides of the
Atlantic Ocean
 
_____ coal was found in cold climates where it could not have formed
 
_____ scratches from glaciers were found in a desert (where there are no glaciers)
 
_____ the size of the Atlantic Ocean is too big
 
_____ the continents looked like they fit together
 
_____ identical rocks, of the same type and age, are found on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean
 
 
Watch the video: http://mpbn.pbslearningmedia.org/asset/midlit10_vid_splwegener/
 
 
8. How did fossils of the mesosaurus support Wegener's theory?
South America and Africa contain fossils of animals found only on those two continents, with corresponding
geographic ranges.
 
9. What was the weakness in Wegener's theory?
He was unable to find out how the continents moved and could possibly not find out in his lifetime.

 
 
Monitoring Task 1 - Plate Tectonics - Birth of a theory
Wednesday, 18 March 2020
4:44 PM
Use your understanding of Continental Drift and Plate Tectonic Theory to complete the speech or thought
bubbles for each of the cartoons below. Consider what the person might think about plate tectonics.
 

How could there be coal

found here, when coal can
only be found in tropical
areas.

If all of the continents

were once all one big
continent, how did they
spread apart?

 
 Wegener’s theory is there
was once a supercontinent
when all the continents
were joined together.

Tectonic plates and

continental drift moved broke
the continent into smaller
countries.