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Science
Quarter 1 – Module 5:
PLATE TECTONICS B

Department of Education • Republic of the Philippines

Science – Grade 10
Alternative Delivery Mode
Quarter 1 – Module 5: Plate Tectonics
First Edition, 2019

Republic Act 8293, section 176 states that: No copyright shall subsist in any work
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Published by the Department of Education

Secretary:
Undersecretary:
Assistant Secretary:

Development Team of the Module

Authors:
Lesson 1 & 2 - Hellen M. Dizon
Lesson 3 - Lilibeth B. Montemayor
Lesson 4 - Patty M. Canyong
Lesson 5 & 6 - Dulce S. Ortega
Lesson 6 - Nilo Salazar
Lesson 7 - Marygin T. Joson
Lesson 8 - Helen Rose A. Ferrancullo / Shirlie G. Custodio
Editor: Rebecca M. Roxas, EPS
Reviewers: Arlene Gatpo, PSDS
Illustrator:
Layout Artist:
Management Team: Maria Magdalena M. Lim, CESO V, Schools Division
Superintendent; Aida H. Rondilla , CID Chief; Lucky S. Carpio, Division EPS in Charge of
LRMS and Division ADM Coordinator
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Science
Quarter 1 – Module 5
Evidences that Support
Plate Movement
Introductory Message
For the facilitator:

This module contains resource materials that will help your student understand this more
effectively. Procedure and questions are easy to understand so that students do not need their texts
open during the performance of this module. Table of observations, charts are included for students
to record their observations. Student oriented activities are prepared to explore science through a
simple approach . Prepare the materials before doing the activity together with your learner to be
able to familiarize the equipment and the learning materials to be used for each activity.

For the learner:

This module has student-oriented activity worksheets that will help you as a student to
understand fully the competencies needed to be taught. Follow the procedure properly, answer the
questions that are being asked in every activity. Answer sheets, table of observations

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 This module was designed and written with you in mind. It is here to help you master the
nature of Biology. The scope of this module permits it to be used in many different learning
situations. The language used recognizes the diverse vocabulary level of students. The lessons are
arranged to follow the standard sequence of the course. But the order in which you read them can
be changed to correspond with the textbook you are now using.

The module is divided into four lessons, namely:

 Lesson 1 – Continental Drift Theory
 Lesson 2 – Seafloor Spreading
 Lesson 3 – Plate Movement

After going through this module, you are expected to:

1. Enumerate the line of evidence that support the plate movement

2. Trace the existence of fossils of plants and animals as evidences found in the present

continents that supports the fitting of drifted continents.

3. Cite other proofs of continental drift theory

4. Explain how magnetic stripping on the seafloor provides evidence for seafloor spreading.

5. Describe how plates move with regard to each other.

6. Explain the cause of movement of tectonic plates.

7. Cite other proofs of plate movement.

8. Describe how evidences of plate movement were collected.

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 What I Know

Directions : Match the description in Column I with the terms in Column II. Write
the letter of the correct term in a separate answer sheet.
COLUMN I COLUMN II
___________1. Reptile fossil found in South A. Pangaea
America and Africa B. Fossil, climate , rock
___________2. Clues that support continental C. Continental drift
Drift theory D. Glacial deposits
___________3. Wegener’s name for one large E. Mesosaurus
Landmass F. Appalachians
___________4. Slow movement of continents
___________5. Evidence that Africa was once cold

Lesson
Earth & Space:
1 Continental Drift

In 1912 , a geophysicist and meteorologist named Alfred Wegener explained the

theory of continental drift on how continents shift position on earth’s surface. It also
explained why look-alike animal and plant fossils and similar rock formation are found on
different continents. Wegener thought that all continents were once a large landmass called
Pangaea before breaking up and drifting to their current positions. There were oppositions
of Wegener’s theory because he didn’t have a good model to explain how the continents
moved apart. Although Wegener’s continental drift theory was discarded, it did introduce
the idea of moving continents. Wegener’s idea was confirmed decades later such as the
existence of supercontinent Pangaea. Evidence of continental drift was a map of continents
were fossil plants and animals in one continent could be also found on many continents in
different era/period.

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 WHAT’S IN

http://tutorialehd.info/key/p/words-pangea.asp,http://ruepaphylara.ga/torrent/download-1505.html

Pictures shown above are evidences of continental drift theory. The first picture
showed that there was a big supercontinent while the second picture showed the drifting of
each continent from each other and the third picture showed the evidences of continental
drift theory such as continents fit like puzzle pieces, fresh water animal fossils on separate
sides of the ocean, plants fossils found in Antartica, similar rock layers on separate
continents and glacial deposits in now tropical/desert areas.

Notes to the Teacher

The teacher may ask questions on what are other evidences of
continental drift theory and what other scientists think of Alfred
Wegener’s theory on drifting continents. You may also ask students to
make a graphic organizer of geologic evidences .

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 WHAT’S NEW

The concept map above showed the evidences for continental drift theory. These
evidences proved that there was a single supercontinent that moves slowly to what the
positions of the continents as of today.
In this diagram it indicates that these evidences showed that continents had to be
once joined together and because of the break up there are barriers like oceans between
land masses that act as a type of barrier for fossil transfer, continental edges, rock
structures and the kind of climate.
It is noted that continental edges like the coastlines of South America and West
Africa seem to match up, the Appalachian Mountains of eastern North America linked
with the Scottish Highlands, the rock strata of South Africa matched correctly with the Sta.
Catarina system in Brazil.
The are several examples of fossils found on separate continents and in other
regions. Four fossil examples include : the Mesosaurus, Cynognathus, Lystrosaurus and
Glossopteris.
Wegener studied the paleoclimate indicators in sedimentary strata and he
recognized that in northwestern Europe strata contained extensive coals that could formed
only in hot wet climate like the present equatorial region.

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 WHAT IS IT

Activity 1 : CONTINENTS OVER TIME

Critical Thinking
Objectives :
1. Reconstruct the position of the continents.
2. Trace the existence of fossil of plants and animals as evidences found in the present
continents that support the fitting of drifted continents.
Materials:
World map, cut-outs of continents, blue cartolina, glue/paste, pentel pen
Procedure :
1. Using the cut-outs of the continents, arrange the position of the continents before and at
present.
2. Paste your arranged cut-outs on the manila paper and identify the geologic time.
3. Write your observations in the table below.

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 ©http://slideplayer.com/slide/7061913/

GUIDE QUESTIONS:
1. How did you assemble your picture?
2. How does the lines of prints in each piece help to confirm that you accurately match each
piece with one another?
3. What are the proofs that the pictures are perfectly assembled?
4. Compare your assembled puzzle with the world map. What do you observed?

What’s More

Communication & Critical Thinking

Activity 1.1 Interpreting Fossil Data

Procedure :
1. Build a three-layer landmass using clay or modeling dough.
2. Mold the clay into mountain ranges.
3. Place similar “ fossils “ into the clay at various locations around the landmass.

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 4. Form five continents from one landmass. Also form two smaller landmasses out of
different clay with different mountain ranges and fossil.
5. Place the five continents and two smaller landmasses around the room.
6. Have someone who did not make or place the landmasses make a model that shows
how they once were positioned.
7. Return the clay to its container so it can be used again.

Guide Questions:
1. What clues were useful in reconstructing the original landmass.

WHAT I HAVE LEARNED

1. Continental Drift Theory – continents have moved slowly to their current locations.
2. All continents were once connected as one large landmass called Pangaea.
3. Alfred Wegener is the scientist who made the theory on continental drift.
4. Pangaea, a supercontinent broke apart and the continents drifted to their present positions.
5. Evidences for continental drift are similar glacial deposits have been found on different
continents, continental edges fit of the continents, rocks of the same age and type and
displaying same formation in some continents, same fossils found on different
continents.

WHAT CAN I DO

Critical Thinking
Communication
Character

In your own words, describe continental drift theory. Is there other theory that
will support Alfred Wegener’s theory on drifted continents? If yes, how does it support
and explain the movement of the continents?

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 ASSESSMENT

Multiple Choice. Choose the letter of the best answer. Write the chosen letter on a
separate sheet of paper.
1. The presence of the same _________ on several continents supports the idea of
continental drift.
a. air
b. fossils
c. rocks
d. both b and c

2. The hypothesis that continents have moved slowly to their current locations is called
______________.
a. continental drift
b. continental slope
c. magnetism
d. convection

3. The continental drift theory was proposed by _______________.

a. Alfred Wegener
b. Harry Hess
c. Abraham Ortelius
d. Carl Sagan

4. The lack of an explanation for continental drift prevented many scientists from
believing a single supercontinent called _____________ once existed.
a. Glomar
b. Glossopteris
c. Mesosaurus
d. Pangaea

5. The following are evidences of continental drift theory except

a. Continental edges fit like puzzle pieces
b. Same fossils found in different continents
c. Rock of the same ages found in different continents
d. Different glacial deposits are found in different continents

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 Additional Activities

Critical Thinking
Communication
Character

A COLD DIG
If you were interested in the fossils of an animal that liked warm weather, would
you think of digging in Antartica? Archaeologists have found many interesting fossils
there, including parts og a hadrosaur, a dinosaur previously found only in the Americas.
1. Antartica has a very inhospitable climate. Why might fossils of warm-weather animals
be found there?
2. What are some reasons that the climate of Antartica might change in the future?

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REFERENCES:

Proprofs.com. 2020. Story. [online] Available at: < https://www.proprofs.com>story>

[Accessed 21 October 2020].
Proprofs.com. 2020. Topic. [online] Available at: < https://www.proprofs.com>topic>
[Accessed 21 October 2020].
Reviewgamezone.com. 2020. Test. [online] Available at:
<https://reviewgamezone.com>test >quiz > [Accessed 21 October 2020].
Study.com. 2020. Practice Quiz. [online] Available at: <https://study.com>practice>quiz
> [Accessed 21 October 2020].
Slideplayer.com. 2020. Plate Tectonics. - Ppt Video Online Download. [online] Available
at: <http://slideplayer.com/slide/7061913/> [Accessed 21 October 2020].
Tutorialehd.info. 2020. Forum Tutorialehd. [online] Available at:
<http://tutorialehd.info/key/p/words-pangea.asp> [Accessed 21 October 2020].

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Week 8 Day 2 WHAT I KNOW

Direction : Choose the letter of the correct answer. Write your answer in a separate paper.

1. The seafloor spreading theory was proposed by ______________.

A. Carl Sagan C. Harry Hess
B. Abraham Ortelius D. Alfred Wegener

2. The youngest rocks in the ocean floor are located at the mid-ocean _________.
A. volcanoes C. trenches
B. basins D. ridge

3. Seafloor spreading occurs because __________________.

A. new material is being added to the asthenosphere
B. earthquakes break apart the ocean floor
C. sediments accumulate on the ocean floor
D. hot, less dense material below earth’s crust is forced upward toward the surface.

4. Scientists aboard the Glomar Challenger added to the evidence for the theory of seafloor
spreading by providing _____________________.
A. high altitude photos of existing continents
B. samples of plant life from different locations
C. samples of rock from different locations
D. direct measurements of the movement of continents.

5. What evidence helps scientists show how seafloor spreading occurs?

A. Ocean floor material
B. Magnetic stripes
C. Drilling samples
D. All of the above

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LESSON 2: EARTH AND SPACE - SEAFLOOR SPREADING

Seafloor spreading theory is the formation of new areas of oceanic crust which
occurs through the upwelling of magma at mid-ocean ridges and its subsequent outward
movement on either side. This happens where a divergent boundary is causing two plates to move
away from one another leading to the creation of new ocean floor. In the early 1960s, Princeton
geologist Harry Hess proposed the hypothesis of seafloor spreading, in which basaltic magma
from the mantle rises to create new ocean floor at mid-ocean ridges. On each side of the ridge, sea
floor moves from the ridge towards the deep-sea trenches where it is subducted and recycled back
into the mantle. A test of the hypothesis of seafloor spreading was provided by studies of the
earth’s magnetism. In 1963, F. Vine and D.H. Matthews reasoned that as basaltic magma rises to
form new ocean floor at mid-ocean spreading center, it records the polarity of the magnetic field
existing at the time magma crystallized. As spreading pulls the new oceanic crust apart, stripes of
approximately same size should be carried away from the ridge on each side. Basaltic magma
forming at mid-oceanic ridges serves as a kind of “tape recorder”, recording the earth provided
powerful that seafloor spreading occurs.

© https://www.yourbeverlyhillsoffice.com/mattress-on-the-floor-ideas/
The age of the seafloor also supports seafloor spreading. If seafloor spreading
operates, the youngest oceanic crust should be found at the ridges and progressively older crust
should be found in moving away from the ridges towards the continents. The oldest known ocean
floor is dated at about 200 million years, indicating that older ocean floor has been destroyed
through subduction at deep – sea trenches.
The mid – oceanic ridge is the longest chain of mountains in the world. In the 1950’s
scientist mapped the mid-ocean ridge using sonar. Sonar is an instrument that uses sound waves to
measure distance. It bounces sound waves off underwater objects and records the echoes of these
sounds. The time that it takes the echo indicates the distance to the object.

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©Encyclopedis Britannica Inc. https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/seafloor-spreading/

In 1960, Harry Hess studied Wegener’s theory on continental drift. He proposed the
radical idea that the ocean floors move like a conveyor belt, which in turn move the continents.
This movement begins at the mid-ocean ridge which forms along in a crack in the oceanic crust.
At the mid-ocean ridge, molten materials rise from the mantle and erupts. The molten material
spreads out pushing older rock to both sides of the ridge. Molten materials, magnetic stripes and
drilling samples supported Hess’s theory.

https://www.slideshare.net/nairamode/seafloor-spreading-theory-discuss-3 https://slideplayer.com/slide/696186/

https://www.slideshare.net/nairamode/seafloor-spreading-theory-discuss-3

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WHAT IS IT

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 WHAT’S MORE

Activity 2.1 Seafloor Spreading

Directions : Find the mistakes in the statement below. Rewrite each statement correctly on the
lines provided.
1. During the 1940s and 1950s, scientists began using radar on moving ships to map large
areas of the ocean floor in detail.
_________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
2. The youngest rocks are found far from the mid-ocean ridges.
_______________________________________________________________________
3. The scientist Henry Hess invented echo-sounding devices for mapping the ocean floor.
_______________________________________________________________________
4. As the seafloor spreads apart, hot saltwater moves upward and flows from the cracks.
_______________________________________________________________________
5. As the new seafloor moves away from the ridge and becomes hotter, it moves upward and
forms still higher ridges.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

6. Rocks on the seafloor are much older than many continental rocks.
_______________________________________________________________________

7. Earth’s magnetic field has always run from the north pole to the south pole.
_______________________________________________________________________

WHAT I HAVE LEARNED

1. Seafloor spreading is the formation of new areas of oceanic crust which occurs through
the upwelling of magma at mid-oceanic ridges and its subsequent outward movement on
either side.
2. Henry Hess , a geologist proposed the hypothesis of seafloor spreading.
3. Mid-oceanic ridge is the longest chain of mountains in the world.
4. Sonar is the instrument used to mapped the mid-ocean ridges
5. Movement of seafloor spreading begins at mid-ocean ridge which forms along in a crack in
the oceanic crust.
6. Molten materials, magnetic stripes and drilling samples supported Hess’s theory.
7. Evidence from molten materials showed that it had erupted many different times from
cracks along the mid-ocean ridge.
8. Evidence from Magnetic stripes showed that earth is like a giant magnet with a north and
south pole .The earth’s magnetic poles reversed themselves 780,000 years ago. Rocks on
the ocean floor are in a pattern of magnetized stripes and these stripes show when the earth
reversed it’s magnetic field.

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 9. Evidence from drilling samples studied the age of the rock samples. Glomar Challenger
is a drilling ship that recovered drilling samples from the ocean floor. They found that the
farther from the ridge, the older the rock. The youngest rocks were at the center of the
ridge.

WHAT CAN I DO
How did scientists use their knowledge of seafloor spreading and magnetic field
reversals to reconstruct Pangaea?

ASSESSMENT
Direction : Choose the letter of the correct answer. Write your answer in a separate sheet.
1. What is seafloor spreading?
A. Mid-oceanic ridges continually add new material to the ocean floor
B. The moon
C. A thing in the ocean
D. Mid-oceanic trenches continually add new material to the ocean floor

2. Mid-oceanic ridges form long chains of ___________ that rise up from the ocean floor.
A. Rivers
B. Valleys
C. Mountains
D. Rocks

3. What form the longest mountain ranges on the earth?

A. Ridges
B. Mountains
C. Rivers
D. Plateaus

4. Seafloor spreading is a geologic process in which type of plates split apart from each
other?
A. Dirt
B. Tree
C. Tectonic
D. Dinner

5. In mid-1900s, scientists mapped mid-oceanic ridges using

A. Sonars
B. Stars
C. Moons
D. Satellites

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 ANSWER KEY
Lesson 1
WHAT I KNOW

1. D

2. A

3. A

4. D

ASSESSMENT

1. E

2. B

3. A

4. C

5. D

Pre – Assessment Post - Assessment

1. C 1. A
2. D 2. C
3. D 3. A
4. C 4. C
5. D 5. A

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REFERENCES
Slideshare.net. 2020. Seafloor Spreading Theory Discuss 3. [online] Available at:
<https://www.slideshare.net/nairamode/seafloor-spreading-theory-discuss-3> [Accessed
22 October 2020].
Slideplayer.com. 2020. Sea-Floor Spreading. - Ppt Video Online Download. [online]
Available at: <https://slideplayer.com/slide/696186/> [Accessed 22 October 2020].
Society, N., 2020. Seafloor Spreading. [online] National Geographic Society. Available at:
<https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/seafloor-spreading/> [Accessed 22
October 2020].
Yourbeverlyhills.com. 2020. Forum Tutorialehd. [online] Available at: <
https://www.yourbeverlyhillsoffice.com/mattress-on-the-floor-ideas/> [Accessed 21
October 2020].
2020. [online] Available at:
<http://lincoln8science.weebly.com/uploads/3/6/5/0/3650206/ges_511_1_g1.pdf>
[Accessed 22 October 2020].
2020. [online] Available at: <https://www.britannica.com>science> [Accessed 22 October
2020

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