1. CONTINENTAL DRIFT

2. How Are Earth’s Continents Linked Together?
1. Find the oceans and the seven continents on a globe showing Earth’s physical features.

3. How Are Earth’s Continents Linked Together?
1. Find the oceans and the seven continents on a globe showing Earth’s physical features
List the continents and oceans.

4. How Are Earth’s Continents Linked Together?
1. Find the oceans and the seven continents on a globe showing Earth’s physical features
List the continents and oceans.

5. How Are Earth’s Continents Linked Together?
1. Find the oceans and the seven continents on a globe showing Earth’s physical features
List the continents and oceans.
Africa
Antarctica
Asia
Australia
Europe
North America
South America
Atlantic Ocean
Arctic Ocean
Indian Ocean
Pacific Ocean
Southern Ocean

6. How Are Earth’s Continents Linked Together?
1. Find the oceans and the seven continents on a globe showing Earth’s physical features
List the continents and oceans.

7. How Are Earth’s Continents Linked Together?
1. Find the oceans and the seven continents on a globe showing Earth’s physical features
2. How much of the globe is occupied by the Pacific Ocean? ___________
Since the surface of the earth is approximately 196,940,400 Sq miles and the Pacific covers 64,000,000 Sq miles, the percent is about…

8. How Are Earth’s Continents Linked Together?
1. Find the oceans and the seven continents on a globe showing Earth’s physical features
2. How much of the globe is occupied by the Pacific Ocean? 32%
Since the surface of the earth is approximately 196,940,400 Sq miles and the Pacific covers 64,000,000 Sq miles, the percent is about…

9. How Are Earth’s Continents Linked Together?
1. Find the oceans and the seven continents on a globe showing Earth’s physical features
2. How much of the globe is occupied by the Pacific Ocean? Does most of Earth’s dry land lie in the Northern or Southern Hemisphere?
___________

10. How Are Earth’s Continents Linked Together?
1. Find the oceans and the seven continents on a globe showing Earth’s physical features
2. How much of the globe is occupied by the Pacific Ocean? Does most of Earth’s dry land lie in the Northern or Southern Hemisphere?
Northern Hemisphere

11. How Are Earth’s Continents Linked Together?
3. Find the points or areas where most of the continents are connected. Find the points at which several of the continents almost touch, but are not connected.
Connected:
Almost touch, but are not connected:

12. How Are Earth’s Continents Linked Together?
3. Find the points or areas where most of the continents are connected. Find the points at which several of the continents almost touch, but are not connected.
Connected: Europe and Asia

13. How Are Earth’s Continents Linked Together?
3. Find the points or areas where most of the continents are connected. Find the points at which several of the continents almost touch, but are not connected.
Connected: Europe and Asia
Almost touch, but are not connected:

14. How Are Earth’s Continents Linked Together?
3. Find the points or areas where most of the continents are connected. Find the points at which several of the continents almost touch, but are not connected.
Connected: Europe and Asia
Almost touch, but are not connected:
North America, South America
Africa, EuroAsia

15. How Are Earth’s Continents Linked Together?
3. Examine the globe more closely. Find the great belt of mountains running from north to south along the western side of North and South America.

16. How Are Earth’s Continents Linked Together?
3. Examine the globe more closely. Find the great belt of mountains running from north to south along the western side of North and South America. Can you find another great belt of mountains on the globe?

17. How Are Earth’s Continents Linked Together?
3 Find the great belt of mountains running from north to south along the western side of North and South America. Can you find another great belt of mountains on the globe?

18. How Are Earth’s Continents Linked Together?
3 What do you notice about the great belts of mountains on the globe?

19. How Are Earth’s Continents Linked Together?
Think It Over… Posing Questions
What questions can you pose about how oceans, continents, and mountains are distributed on Earth’s surface?

20. How Are Earth’s Continents Linked Together?
Think It Over… Posing Questions
Have the continents always been located where they are now?
Were the continents joined together at one point in history?
How did the mountains form?
Are there connections between mountains from one continent to the next?

21. Write a Hypothesis
I hypothesize that…

22. Write a Hypothesis
I hypothesize that all the continents were once joined together in a single landmass and have since drifted apart.
Think It Over… Pose More Questions

23. Write a Hypothesis
I hypothesize that all the continents were once joined together in a single landmass and have since drifted apart.
What evidence do we have to prove this hypothesis?
Has anyone made this hypothesis before? Who? When? Was is the hypothesis proven or disproven?

24. Alfred L. Wegener
Geologist Alfred Wegener noticed similar rocks & fossil remains were found on continents which seemed to fit together
He called this “super” continent called Pangaea
In 1912 Wegener published the first version & died defending his theory

25. PANGAEA
the large landmass that included all of Earth’s present day continents

26. Support for Continental Drift
1. SHAPE OF THE CONTINENTS
Continents fit together like puzzle pieces

27. Support for Continental Drift
1. SHAPE OF THE CONTINENTS
Wegener was not the only one to notice the fit of the continents.
1858: Antonio Pelligrini depicted Africa and South America connected.
He was one of the first scientists to publish maps depicting the apparent fit of the continents.

28. Support for Continental Drift
2. FOSSIL EVIDENCE
SAME FOSSILS: DIFFERENT CONTINENTS
Mesosaurus was incapable of swimming across a large ocean.

29. Support for Continental Drift
3. ROCK EVIDENCE – Mountain ranges
SAME ROCK: DIFFERENT RANGE Existing mountain ranges separated by vast oceans contain rocks of identical mineral content.
A prime example are the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern U.S and the Caledonian Mountains in the British Isles.

30. SAME SCARS: DIFFERENT CONTINENTS
Support for Continental Drift
4. GLACIAL SCARS
SAME SCARS: DIFFERENT CONTINENTS

31. 5. LOCATION OF COAL DEPOSITS
Support for Continental Drift
5. LOCATION OF COAL DEPOSITS
Coal deposits have been found in temperate and polar regions; however, coal is formed in tropical regions.

32. CONTINENTAL DRIFT IN DOUBT
Why didn’t people believe in continental drift?
People couldn’t image how the earth could be millions of years old
People couldn’t image a force great enough to move the continents
BUT by the 1960’s evidence would prove continental drift is TRUE and…. The story continues (as does all good science!)