Building Pangaea
In 1915, Alfred Wegener proposed that all of Earth's continents were once joined in an ancient supercontinent he called Pangaea. Wegener's idea of moving continents led to the modern theory of plate tectonics. Create your own version of Pangaea by fitting Earth's landmasses together like puzzle pieces. Use evidence from fossils, rocks, and glaciers to refine your map.
Launch GizmoBuilding Pangaea
In 1915, Alfred Wegener proposed that all of Earth's continents were once joined in an ancient supercontinent he called Pangaea. Wegener's idea of moving continents led to the modern theory of plate tectonics. Create your own version of Pangaea by fitting Earth's landmasses together like puzzle pieces. Use evidence from fossils, rocks, and glaciers to refine your map.
5 Minute Preview
Use for 5 minutes a day.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
- Learn the names of major landmasses.
- Explain the theory of continental drift.
- Fit the landmasses together to form an ancient supercontinent called Pangaea.
- Use several types of evidence (fossils, rocks, glaciers) to revise their model of Pangaea.
VOCABULARY:
- continental drift, fossil, glacier, ice age, landmass, Pangaea, supercontinent
LESSON MATERIALS:
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User Submitted Lesson Materials (3):
Google Doc of Student Exploration Sheet
In the file, click on the link to make a copy of the Google Doc of the Student Exploration Sheet.
Best For:
3rd Grade, 4th Grade, 5th Grade Science
Claim, Evidence, Reasoning Prompt: Building Pangaea
Lesson Submission CER prompt This document is intended to support students in constructing explanations... (more) in science utilizing the claim, evidence, reasoning framework for talk and writing.
Best For:
3rd Grade, 4th Grade, 5th Grade Science
Continental Drift Guided Notes
After my class completed the Building Pangaea Gizmo, they completed these guided notes and glued them int... (more)o their interactive science notebook.
Best For:
Earth/Space Science
User Recommendations (showing 5 of 8):
Excellent learning resource and the students enjoy learning with this Gizmo
Recommended for: Earth/Space ScienceGizmo User from North Carolina
Excellent reinforcement to use with 6th graders to explain support for Continental Drift Theory.
Recommended for: Earth/Space ScienceGizmo User from New Hampshire
Helps ESL students in particular to understand topic.
Recommended for: Environmental ScienceGizmo User from Ohio
Show Remaining Recommendations (3)