1. Catalyst Answer the following questions on a sticky note
What is a metamorphic rock?
What is a sedimentary rock?
What is an igneous rock?
which transition is most responsible for gaps in the fossil record?
metamorphic rock to igneous rock
igneous rock to metamorphic rock
metamorphic rock to sedimentary rock
sedimentary rock to metamorphic rock
Discuss 4 as a class

2. journal
Put sticky note in your folder on the Rock Cycle notes, underneath (in an open area) answer the following question: A certain sedimentary formation contains two layers. The bottom layer is made up of jumbled, unsorted material. The top is made up of fine, well-sorted sand. Describe how this formation might have been created.

3. Agenda Notes – Continental Drift Continental Drift Activity
Writing assignment
Independent Practice

4. I can explain continental drift and the theory of plate tectonics.

5. Lithosphere = outer surface of the Earth
The Lithosphere
Lithosphere = outer surface of the Earth
The Earth is made up of Four layers.
crust
mantle
inner core
outer core

6. Layers of the Earth Lithosphere = crust and upper mantle
earth’s tectonic plates
Asthenosphere = below the Lithosphere in the mantle

7. Why are the continents located where they are?
Queen Elizabeth Islands
Greenland
Why are the continents located where they are?
What are the 7 continents?
Japan
Iceland
Malasia
Madagascar
New Zealand

8. Early Observers
In the late 1500s, a Dutch mapmaker noticed that the continents fit together on either side of the Atlantic Ocean.
Abraham Ortelius proposed that North America and South America had been separated from Europe and Africa by earthquakes and floods.

9. Early Observers Then, Eduard Suess hypothesized:
southern continents had once been joined together to form a landmass called Gondwanaland
northern continents were all joined together and called Laurasia

10. Alfred Wegener
In 1912, created his hypothesis called “continental drift.”
Continental drift = hypothesis that the Earth’s continents had once been joined as a single landmass then moved apart

11. The Supercontinent
Pangaea = the supercontinent, “all the earth” in Greek.
Wegener believed that Pangaea began to break apart about 200 million years ago.

12. Pangaea

13. 200 million years ago…

14. Continental Drift

15. Continental drift
hypothesis that the Earth’s continents had once been joined as a single landmass then moved apart

16. HOW DID THE LAND MOVE APART?
Alfred Wegner
So, no one believed him because he did NOT explain…
What force could be strong enough to move such large masses of rock over such great distances?
How are the continents moving? What is the evidence?
HOW DID THE LAND MOVE APART?

17. Evidence of CONTINENTAL DRIFT
Geology – rocks
Fossils
Climate
Seafloor Spreading and Renewal

18. Rock Formation Evidence
Wegener hypothesized that there should be areas of similar rock types on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean.
He found rocks of the Appalachian Mountains shared features with rocks in Europe.
These rocks were over 200 million years old.

19. Matching Mountain Ranges

20. ROCKS AND MINERALS THAT seem to fit together…

21. Fossil EVIDENCE
Similar fossils of different animals and plants that once lived on land had been found on many different continents
Animals that were found on separated continents included animals that never could have swam across oceans!

22. Fossil Evidence

23. Climatic Evidence
Wegener found climatic evidence such as glacial deposits.
Glacial deposits were found in Africa, India, Australia and South America.
Today the climate is MUCH TOO HOT to support glaciers.

24. Glacial Evidence in South Africa
The Dwyka Tillite shown above formed from sediment dropped from icebergs.  The boulder being pointed to is a dropstone left by a melting iceberg.  The Dwyka Tillite correlates with similar rocks in South America, India, Australia, and Antarctica.  Alfred Wegener considered this tillite to be evidence of continental drift.

25. Seafloor spreading
An American Scientist named Harry Hess proposed the theory called sea floor spreading.
Sea floor spreading = states that new ocean floor is formed when plates move

26. Seafloor renewal
Magma is very hot so it is less dense than surrounding material.
This forces the magma to rise upwards along an ocean ridge and fill in the gap like a scab.
When the magma hardens, you get a small amount of new ocean floor.

27. REJECTED!!!
Despite all of the evidence most people did not believe Alfred Wegener because he did not explain what was causing the continents to move and how they were moving.

28. what was causing the continents to move and how they were moving
what was causing the continents to move and how they were moving? Convection currents and PLATE TECTONICS!!!!

29. Convection Currents
EXPLAIN WHAT IS HAPPENING AT EACH STEP

30. SING ALONG

31. Agenda Notes – Continental Drift Continental Drift Activity
Writing assignment
Independent Practice

32. Continental drift activity
Cut out all parts and rearrange them so that they fit together like Pangea
Color the different types of evidence so that they match between the different land masses.
Red = Alligator-like organism
Blue = Fern-like plant
Green = Flower bush-like plant
Orange = Reptile-like organism
Yellow = Large, fatter organism
Paste the Pangea on a separate sheet of paper
At the bottom, answer the following question:
Why did the public not believe Alfred Wegener’s theory? What do we know now that tells us why the theory of Continental Drift is “true”?
WRITE IN COMPLETE SENTENCES.

33. Agenda Notes – Continental Drift Continental Drift Activity
Independent Practice

37. Plate tectonics Lithosphere is divided into 7 major plates
The plates can move and change shape and size
plate tectonics = the theory that Earth's outer shell is divided into several plates that glide over the mantle
explains the features and movement of Earth's surface in the present and the past
Mountains
Volcanoes
earthquakes

38. Plate Tectonics
Plates move because of convection currents in the mantle.
The plates are NOT exactly the same as the continents.
This is DIFFERENT from what continental drift said.

39. 2 types of Plates Ocean plates – plates below the ocean
Continental plates – plates below the continents

40. Think… 1. What does the theory of plate tectonics say?
2. How is plate tectonics similar to continental drift?
3. How is plate tectonics different from continental drift?
4. Do you think a plate moving 5 centimeters a year could have a big effect? Why or why not?

41. Tectonic plates moving causes:
Earthquakes
Volcanoes
Mountain Ranges
Sea floor spreading
Mid-Oceanic Ridges

42. 3 Types of plate boundaries
Divergent
Convergent
Transform

43. Divergent boundaries 2 plates move apart   Seafloor spreading
2 plates move apart, and mantle moves up to create new seafloor
Cause a continental rift
where the landmass splits into 2 segments
Example: East African rift valley
Cause an mid-ocean ridge
where the seafloor splits into 2 segments

45. Convergent Boundary 2 plates move together  
Two plates come together and 1 is forced to slide underneath the other
Subduction zone – where 1 plate is pushed below the other
Ocean crust subducts under land crust
Causes volcanoes
Example: Andes volcanoes in South America
Causes mountains
Causes ocean trenches

47. Transform boundaries 2 plates move past each other cause earthquakes
Two plates grind past each other and move in sudden spurts of activity
Example: San Andreas Fault in California
cause earthquakes
Fault = fracture or crack in earth’s crust

49. Think… – Think, pair, share
Which type of boundary?
Two plates move together –
Two plates move apart –
Causes volcanoes –
Causes earthquakes –
Two plates move past each other –
Causes seafloor spreading -

51. Agenda Notes – Continental Drift and Plate Tectonics
Continental Drift Activity
Independent Practice
Exit Ticket

52. Continental drift activity

53. What is not finished is homework
Independent Practice
What is not finished is homework

54. Exit tIcket

56. Write a Letter
Write a letter to the scientists who rejected Alfred Wegner’s theory of continental drift. You must convince them that Wegner’s theory is correct. Use the appearance of the continents today along with the evidence (fossil, geologic, climatic, and seafloor) to support your argument.
Include:
-What the theory of continental drift is
-Why you support Wegner’s theory
-Use evidence (how the continents look today, and the evidence we talked about in your notes)

57. EXIT TICKET
HOMEWORK: WORKSHEET

58. Evidence Practice When finished:
Write a letter to the scientists who rejected Alfred Wegner’s theory of continental drift. You must convince them that Wegner’s theory is correct. Use the appearance of the continents today along with the evidence (fossil, geologic, climatic, and seafloor) to support your argument.
Include:
-What the theory of continental drift is
-Why you support Wegner’s theory
-Use evidence (how the continents look today, and the evidence we talked about in your notes)