HeyHel

l
o!Todaywewi
l
lexami
net
hewor
ldwi
thy
ou.

Ourworl
dconsi
stsofsev
encont
inent
s.Nomat
terhowf
arapar
ttheyar
e,t
heyact
ual
l
ylookl
i
ke
pi
ecesofapuzzl
e.

Alt
houghpeoplebef
oreust houghtthattheconti
nentsdi
dnotmov e,weknowt odaythatt
he
conti
nent
sweretogether300mi l
li
ony earsagoandwecallthi
slar
gecontinentPangea.Howdo
youthi
nktheseheavyandlargecontinentssepar
atedfr
om eachother?

Tounderstandthis,l
et'
slookinsi
detheear
th!Thecrustoftheeart
hi stheouter
mostlayerand
fl
oatsontheMant l
e.Themant l
etakesi
tsenergyf
rom thecoreandt huspl
atesarefor
med.
Sevenoftheplatesarelargeandtwentyar
esmal l
.Theplat
esaredr aggedindif
fer
entdirect
ions
bythemov ementoft heMantle.

I
fthepl
atescomeclosetoeachother
,theycreat
emount ai
ns,
ift
heymov eaway,theycr
eat
e
oceanr
idges,
andf
inall
y,i
ftheyr
ubagainsteachother
,theycr
eateear
thquakes.

Anotherpr
ooft
hattheconti
nentsusedt
ocoexi
sti
sthatf
ossi
l
soft
hesamel
i
vingt
hinghav
e
beenfoundondif
fer
entconti
nents.