Ancient life, climate, and continents

Creating a foldable

Understand how a hypothesis is developed

Key Questions1. WHAT IS CONTINENTAL DRIFT?

2. WHAT ARE 10 PIECES OF EVIDENCE USED TO SUPPORT THE THEORY OF CONTINENTAL DRIFT?

3. HOW DOES EACH PIECE OF EVIDENCE SUPPORT THE HYPOTHESIS?

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Copy to Pages 34 & 35

Lab: Continental DriftIn today’s activity, we will use the fossil evidence that

we collected last week and yesterday to make a foldable.

Complete each section in order following the directions on this slide show.

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Build the Foldable – 3 pieces of colored paperhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7UZ6Iv8b_Y(Please watch the video with the sound OFF or EARBUDS ON)

Label your sections◦ Top section blank

◦ First Section “Your Hypothesis” (Write the claim, evidence and reasoning that you came up with)

◦ First Section “Fossil Evidence”

◦ First Section “Geology Evidence”

◦ First Section “Climate Evidence”

◦ First Section “Wegener’s Hypothesis”

FossilsPlants & animals similar across oceans

Early explanation was land bridges that sunk beneath oceans

Lystrosaurus (Triassic land dweller) in Africa, Antarctica, India, Madagascar

Mesosaurus (Triassic fresh water reptile - lived in shallow lakes and estuaries) in Brazil, South Africa

Glossopteris flora (Pennsylvania-Permian plant with seeds too large to be wind transported) in Africa, South America, India, Antarctica, Australia

Alignment of mountain rangesRanges with the same ages of deformation on opposite sides of ocean

Appalachians (N. America) line up with Caledonides(Britain & Scandanavia)

Iceland in the way, but it is young (only 20 Ma)

Match up with African belt of deformation

Similar Rock Sequences

Pennsylvania-Permian rocks identical for Gondwana continents

Pennsylvanian through Jurassic rock sequences very similar

Ancient climatesGlaciers found in areas that are presently tropical (central Africa)

Permian (225 Ma) glacial deposits (till) in S. Africa - need to be nearer pole

Striations showed that glaciers seemed to be coming out of oceans

Rejoining contintents - radial pattern from a common center (paleo South Pole)

Coals in presently cold climates (Spitzbergen & Norway) => once tropical

No glaciers in Northern Hemisphere

Wegener's HypothesisWegener was a meteorologist (spent time stationed in Greenland with plenty of time to think)

Proposed "continental drift" - published "Origin of Continents and Oceans" in 1912

Climate:

• Glacial

Striations

• Sptisbergen,

Norway• Coal Deposits

Fossils:

• Lystrosaurus

• Mesosaur

• Glossopteris

• Cynognathus

European flora

Geology:

• Mountains

Chains

• Layers of

Rocks

Wind and water can be used to “explain away” the evidence of some fossils, HOWEVER, it does NOT address the evidence provided by glaciers,

changes in climate, mountain ranges, and rocks. No

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