Evidence for Continental Drift Pg. 2

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Evidence for Continental Drift

Procedures:

For this activity, the students will need a little bit of background.

Place overhead of Continents Today on the overhead. Review the names and locations of each of the continents.

Review the word paleontologist and what a paleontologist does. Mention that paleontologists tend to study particular kinds of fossils. Someone who studies fossil plants is called a paleobotanist. Someone who studies dinosaurs, mammoths, etc. is called a vertebrate paleontologist.

Review the word geologist and what a geologist does - studies glaciers, sedimentary rocks, geologic processes such as mountain building, etc.

Part I. Examining Fossil Evidence
Students will need to work in groups of six. Begin the activity by reading the following script to your students:

Welcome to the regional meeting of the Geoscience Society.

You are all paleontologists. Each of you has your own special field of study. Three of you are paleobotanists and the remaining three are vertebrate paleontologists. [Have students select one of the six Fossil Clue cards.]

Your task is to travel all over the world and to see if you can find fossils of your particular organism. If you find them, you will make note of it by mapping it on a continental map. [Explain that they are to remove the Fossil Evidence from the envelope and spread them out in any order. The evidence is distributed on each of the continents. They will pass the continents along in a circle until every paleontologist has had a chance to look for his/her fossils. If their particular fossil is present on the continent piece, they should color in the area where they are found]

Now that your worldwide search is complete, let's see what the map looks like. First of all, place each of your continent pieces on the World Map. Share your expertise with your fellow paleontologists about your particular plant or animal by reading the Fossil Clue card you have selected. Examine the distribution of your fossils. Do you see anything unusual? E.g., What are ferns doing in Antarctica?

[Have the students discuss some of the "problems" with the distribution of the fossils as they appear on the map.]

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updated January 28, 2002