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Pangaea Puzzle Questions

This document contains questions and analysis prompts related to continental drift and the idea that the continents were once joined together in a supercontinent called Pangaea. It asks students to identify which continent coastlines fit together, define continental drift, explain how fossil and mountain evidence was used to reconstruct Pangaea, and discuss why present continents do not perfectly fit the ancient configuration. It also contains an analysis question asking students to summarize Alfred Wegener's work from his perspective and that of a skeptic.

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Al Wincell Quindong
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528 views

Pangaea Puzzle Questions

This document contains questions and analysis prompts related to continental drift and the idea that the continents were once joined together in a supercontinent called Pangaea. It asks students to identify which continent coastlines fit together, define continental drift, explain how fossil and mountain evidence was used to reconstruct Pangaea, and discuss why present continents do not perfectly fit the ancient configuration. It also contains an analysis question asking students to summarize Alfred Wegener's work from his perspective and that of a skeptic.

Uploaded by

Al Wincell Quindong
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Pangaea Puzzle Conclusion Questions (g) Name: ______________________________

1. Which 2 continents have the most obvious fit of the coastlines?

2. What is the idea of Continental Drift?

3. How were the fossil symbols and mountain belts helpful in deciding where to move the continents?

4. Why don’t the present shapes of the continents fit perfectly into a supercontinent?

5. Which fossil occurs on the most landmasses? What does this suggest about when these particular continents
broke up?
Analysis Question
Imagine you are Alfred Wegener. Write a one- paragraph statement to summarize your work. Your summary must
include descriptions on:

a. What your map shows about the Earth 225 million years ago (What does the map show?)
b. How the fossil evidence helped you to put the landmasses together (What was your process?)
c. Why the fossil evidence is good (Why do you think your map is a good one?)

Extra Credit: Imagine you are a skeptic of Alfred Wegener. Write a one-paragraph statement to criticize his work. Your
criticism must include challenges about:

a. Why the continents could NOT possibly move the way Wegener is describing
b. How the fossils could naturally be located in the places Wegener found them, without the continents moving
c. Why Wegener is not qualified to be proposing theories in the fields of geology and Earth history
Pangaea Puzzle Conclusion Questions (a) Name: ______________________________
1. Which 2 continents have the most obvious fit of the coastlines?

2. What is the idea of Continental Drift?

3. How were the fossil symbols and mountain belts helpful in deciding where to move the continents?

4. Why don’t the present shapes of the continents fit perfectly into a supercontinent?

5. Which fossil occurs on the most landmasses? What does this suggest about when these particular continents
broke up?
Analysis Question
Imagine you are Alfred Wegener. Write a one- paragraph statement to summarize your work. Your summary must
include descriptions on:

a. What your map shows about the Earth 225 million years ago (What does the map show?)
b. How the fossil evidence helped you to put the landmasses together (What was your process?)
c. Why the fossil evidence is good (Why do you think your map is a good one?)

Imagine you are a skeptic of Alfred Wegener. Write a one-paragraph statement to criticize his work. Your criticism must
include challenges about:

a. Why the continents could NOT possibly move the way Wegener is describing
b. How the fossils could naturally be located in the places Wegener found them, without the continents moving
c. Why Wegener is not qualified to be proposing theories in the fields of geology and Earth history

Evidence or Not?

On the Analyzing Evidence worksheet, read the statement in each box and check whether the statement is evidence or
not in the left columns, and whether is supports the movements of the continents in the right columns.

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