Science Lesson: In Search of Evidence

Abstract
This lesson will allow students to build upon the assumptions from the previous lesson and explore a variety of data and look for evidence supporting Alfred Wegener’s Continental Drift Theory. Students will specifically explore evidence from: climates, fossil records, rock and mountain structures, and ice sheets.

Purpose – Exploration of evidence supporting Wegener’s Theory of Continental Drift.

Objectives
Students will be able to:
1. Draw conclusions based upon evidence.
2. Build evidence to support Wegener’s Theory
3. List at least four supports for Wegener’s Theory

National Science Education Standard:
CONTENT STANDARD D: Earth and Space Science
The Origin And Evolution Of The Earth System
• Interactions among the solid earth, the oceans, the atmosphere, and organisms have resulted in the ongoing evolution of the earth system. We can observe some changes such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions on a human time scale, but many processes such as mountain building and plate movements take place over hundreds of millions of years.

Teacher Background

Continental Drift Theory Evidence from USGS
http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/text/historical.html

The Great Continental Drift Mystery
http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1991/6/91.06.05.x.html#b

Related and Resource Websites

Tectonics 1.0 from Cornell
http://atlas.geo.cornell.edu/education/student/continental_puzzle.html

Physical Geography
http://www.geography-site.co.uk/pages/virtual-school/lessons/Tectonics02.html

Continental Drift
http://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/programs/continentaldrift/

Plate Tectonics
http://maritime.haifa.ac.il/departm/lessons/ocean/lect06.htm

An Intro to Plate Tectonics
http://www.hartrao.ac.za/geodesy/tectonics.html

Paradigm Shifts in Geology
http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/arn/wiestr1007.htm

Activity

1. Remind students that yesterday they observed the same phenomenon that prompted Alfred Wegener to propose his Continental Drift Theory which states that the outlines of the continents seem to suggest they were at one time joined.

2. Put the following site up on a computer, Aver Key, or an overhead projector for students to see: Continents - have them tell you where to place each continent and how to rotate it. When they are finished, they will have recreated Pangea using continental shapes as a guide. http://atlas.geo.cornell.edu/education/student/continental_puzzle.html (If a computer is not available, cut out the continent on paper and place on an overhead. Have students assist with placement. If using an overhead, be sure to draw in the equator and prime meridian.)

3. Ask students, “What changes might have occurred as the continents moved from their previous locations to their present-day locations?” Pause for student responses. Students should identify climate as one change. From there, they should be able to extrapolate that if climate changed, so has the life that lives on those continents.

4. Tell students they will be rotating through four different mini-labs. At each lab they will be examining evidence that might support Wegener’s Theory. Some labs should resemble the ideas shared by students yesterday. That is okay. In fact, it shows high level thinking on the student’s part. (Directions for lab set up are on the Laboratory Setup Sheet in the materials box above.)

5. Assign groups to the respective lab stations. (This lesson is written assuming eight lab groups of four students each so there should be two copies of each lab set up. Adjust to suit your personal classroom needs).

6. Give groups 10-15 minutes at each lab station. This should be ample time to analyze the data and record findings in their science notebooks. Encourage students to sketch their observations as this will help facilitate memory and understanding of the concepts.

7. When students have visited all mini-labs, call the class back together for Closure.

Closure
Have students share their findings with the class. What evidence did they find to support Wegener’s theory? What further information is still missing from the picture (students still do not know how the continents move.)?

Embedded Assessment
Are groups working together to analyze data and draw valid conclusions from that data? Can students find at least four pieces of evidence to support Wegener’s Theory?

Homework
Write a 2-3 sentence conclusion in your science notebook. Conclusions should tell what you learned and be thought provoking.
Look online. What other evidence has been uncovered to support Wegener’s Theory?

Embedded Assessment