Is the Earth’s interior processes related with the structure of the Earth’s surface?

Have you had the chance to go to a mountain, stand on its peak and look at the beauty it offers? Do you think it looks exactly the same as before? If it wasn’t the same 10 years ago, how much different is it 10 million years ago, 100 million years ago?

In 1912, Alfred Wegener (pronounced as vey-guh-nuh-r), a German meteorologist, proposed a theory that about 200 million years ago, the continents were once one large landmass. He called this landmass Pangaea, a Greek word which means “All Earth.” This Pangaea started to break into two smaller supercontinent called Laurasia and Gondwanaland during Jurassic Period. These smaller supercontinents broke into continents and these continents separated and drifted apart since then.

The Evolution of Pangaea

Wegener searched for evidences to support his claim. He noticed the fit of the edges of the continents on the opposite sides of the South Atlantic. His evidences to the Continental Drift Theory include the distribution of fossils in different continents, rock features, and ancient climates.

It seems very impossible that the seven continents, which are currently thousands of miles away from each other, were actually connected pieces of a supercontinent.

The most visible and fascinating evidence that these continents were once one is their shapes. The edge of one continent surprisingly matches the edge of another: South America and Africa fit together; India, Antarctica, and Australia match one another; Eurasia and North America complete the whole continental puzzle in the north.

Instructions: 1.Obtain a set of torn newspaper page or magazine page from your teacher. 2. Try to fit the pieces together. 3. Use a tape to connect the pieces.

1.What features of the newspaper helped you connect the pieces perfectly? 2. How the lines of prints or texts in the newspaper help you confirm that you have reassembled the newspaper/magazine page? 3. Show proofs that the newspaper is perfectly reassembled.

1.Were you able to solve the problem: that is to perfectly assemble the newspaper page? How? 2. How was the Continental Drift Theory conceived?

We are faced with various problems in our daily lives. What are some of the problems that you had encountered? How did you solve these problems?

 Continental Drift Theory  Alfred Wegener  Pangaea  shapes of the continents Directions: Using the concepts below, write a short story of how the Continental Drift Theory was developed.

 5 – All concepts were used to show 100% recognition of how the theory was developed  4 – All concepts were used but one link is somehow incorrect  - Lacks one concept but had connected the 3 concepts correctly  3 – All concepts were used but 2 connections were incorrect  - Lacks 2 concepts but had connected the remaining concepts correctly  2 - Only one concept showed recognition of how the theory was developed  1 – No recognition at all of how the theory was developed