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Gizmos Student Exploration: Building Pangaea
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Gizmos Student Exploration: Building Pangaea
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Student Exploration: Building PangaeaVocabulary
Continental Drift : the theory that the continents are moving very slowly.
Fossil : the remains, traces, or imprint of an ancient living thing preserved in rock.
Glacier : a large, slowly moving body of snow and ice.
Ice age : a time when Earth was very cold and large areas were covered by glaciers.
Landmass : a large, unbroken area of land.
Pangaea : an ancient supercontinent that scientists believe existed from about 200 to 300
million years ago.
Supercontinent : a single landmass that includes two or more continents.
Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)
1. Antarctica is a frozen land, so cold and icy that no trees can grow there. Yet scientists have
discovered fossils (remains preserved in rock) of ancient trees in Antarctica.
● What do you think this means? I think this means that Antarctica was once full of
trees ( Terrestrial Environment )and the dinosaurs or mammals that lived here
died and were preserved here , as the earth changed this environment changed to
nothing but a frozen land.
2. The Himalayas in central Asia are the tallest mountains in the world. But fossils of seashells
can be found high in these mountains, far from any ocean.
● How do you think they got there? I think they got there because the top of those
mountains were once the ocean floor and when the earth's plates moved and
pushed the mountain up marine life that lived there got trapped in the mountain.
Gizmo Warm-up
1. The Gizmo allows you to drag and rotate all the major landmasses on Earth.
● To drag a landmass, grab it in the middle
● To rotate a landmass, grab it near the edge
● Learn the names by opening the Tools menu and dragging the Help icon over the
landmasses.
● Mark where you live. Open the Tools menu and drag an arrow to your location.
2. Test your geography skills. Drag and rotate landmasses randomly until you make a big mess.
Then try to move them back to their original positions.
● When you have made the best map you can, open the Tools menu, select Screenshot,
and copy the image into a blank document. Label the image “Map 1.”
3. Click Reset. Compare your map to the real one. How well did you do?
I say I did okay Africa was near the right place but it was rotated the wrong way , and
Madagascar was too high up beside Africa. Greenland was rotated the wrong way ,
Australia was also rotated the wrong way. North America & South America were too far
West.
, Activity A: Get the Gizmo ready:
Solving the puzzle ● If necessary, click Reset.
● Check that the Evidence shown is None.
Introduction: In 1915, a German scientist named Alfred Wegener (VAY-guh-ner) proposed the
theory of continental drift. According to this theory, the landmasses once were joined into a
supercontinent called Pangaea. The landmasses then slowly drifted to their current positions.
Question: What did Pangaea look like?
1. Observe: Drag South America close to Africa. Look at their coastlines. What do you notice?
The coastlines look as if they could connect together.
2. Explore: Try to fit all the landmasses together like a puzzle.
● As much as possible, avoid overlapping landmasses.
● When you are satisfied, take a screenshot and paste it into your document. Label this
map “Map 2: Fit of the continents.”
3. Analyze: Look at your map of Pangaea.
A. How well do the continents fit together?
They seem like they fit together okay , but not exactly like they are supposed to.
B. Is it a perfect fit? Explain
No , its not a perfect fit its as if there's some land that is missing that would make themand
exact fit to each other.
C. Think about how the landmasses got from where they were to where they are today.
Does it seem realistic that the land masses could have moved like this? Explain.
Looking at how well they almost fit together , and knowing how plate tectonics can change
the surface of the earth dramatically with enough pressure and heat , it seems very possible
to once have had a supercontinent and with a lot of heat and pressure deepin within the
Earth causing them to drift apart so dramatically.
4. Compare: If possible, present your map of Pangaea to your classmates and teacher. Look at
other maps, and talk about each one. ( Not Possible )
A. Are the maps very similar or very different?
( Not Possible )
B. If Alfred Wegener showed you a map like this but did not have any other evidence,
would you have believed his theory that the continents had moved? Explain.
If Alfred Wegener showed me a map like this and had no other evidence to prove his
theory I would most likely not believe him due to lack of proof , but it would make me
wonder somewhat because the continents seem to almost perfectly fit together.
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