R1
A
It was a revolution that changed the way we saw the Earth. It was the “debate of the century”.
The debate centered around a very unusual theory, made by a German Astronomer (not even
a Geologist!) who wouldn’t live to see his theory accepted.
During his lifetime, several people said the theory was impossible, ridiculous, and absurd. They
laughed at the supporters of the theory and claimed they had no evidence.
The beginning of the revolution – a quiet one – happened in throughout most of the twentieth
century. It began early in the century but took until the end of the sixties before the
revolutionaries had won.
It caused scientists to switch from one point of view about the Earth to its complete opposite!
Now that’s a revolution!
CA NGSS Roll Out #3: Tool E to 6-8 Learning Sequence.
Text adapted from: Demanche, E.L, Kyselka, W., Pottenger III, F. M., & Young, D.B. (1996). Change Over Time: FAST 3,
Foundational Approaches in Science Teaching, University of Hawaii’s Curriculum Research & Development Group, Honolulu,
Hawai’i. Images from: http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/dynamic.html unless otherwise noted.
R1
B
Antonio Snider-Pellegrini, an Italian geographer and map-maker, published a map
showing no Atlantic Ocean. The America’s fit tightly against Europe and Africa.
Why did he do this? He realized that coal deposits in Europe and North America have
identical fossil plants. He thought that they must have been next to each other when
they formed.
Moving continents? The idea was not taken seriously by the scientific community, in
fact, they thought it was quite silly!
CA NGSS Roll Out #3: Tool E to 6-8 Learning Sequence.
Text adapted from: Demanche, E.L, Kyselka, W., Pottenger III, F. M., & Young, D.B. (1996). Change Over Time: FAST 3,
Foundational Approaches in Science Teaching, University of Hawaii’s Curriculum Research & Development Group, Honolulu,
Hawai’i. Images from: http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/dynamic.html unless otherwise noted.
R1
C
Ocean basins (the bottom of the ocean) were thought of as flat plains. But what a surprise in
1910 to find a huge mountain range running right down the middle of the Atlantic ocean! That
mountain range (known as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge) neatly parallels the coastlines of South
America and Africa.
The opponents were happy to learn of this because they felt this mountain range was an
important barrier between the continents.
CA NGSS Roll Out #3: Tool E to 6-8 Learning Sequence.
Text adapted from: Demanche, E.L, Kyselka, W., Pottenger III, F. M., & Young, D.B. (1996). Change Over Time: FAST 3,
Foundational Approaches in Science Teaching, University of Hawaii’s Curriculum Research & Development Group, Honolulu,
Hawai’i. Images from: http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/dynamic.html unless otherwise noted.
R1
D
Alfred Wegener realized that that continents fit remarkably well if we use the edges of the
continental shelves rather than the coastlines.
Image Source: http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/about/edu/dynamicplanet/wegener/worldtoday.pdf
We might think of a continent as a large, low platform of land rising above the sea like a huge
island. Surrounding the continental landmass is a shallow continental shelf. The shelf extends
outward from the land. Suddenly the shelf drops off steeply at the continental slope. The steep
slope continues, plunging downward to the depths of the ocean basin.
"Doesn't the east coast of South America fit exactly
against the west coast of Africa, as if they had once been
joined?" wrote Wegener to his future wife in December
1910. "This is an idea I'll have to pursue." This inspired
Wegener’s important and revolutionary theory.
Image Source: http://hyperphysics.phyastr.gsu.edu/hbase/geophys/imggeo/platesaafrica.gif
CA NGSS Roll Out #3: Tool E to 6-8 Learning Sequence.
Text adapted from: Demanche, E.L, Kyselka, W., Pottenger III, F. M., & Young, D.B. (1996). Change Over Time: FAST 3,
Foundational Approaches in Science Teaching, University of Hawaii’s Curriculum Research & Development Group, Honolulu,
Hawai’i. Images from: http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/dynamic.html unless otherwise noted.
R1
E
Rocks in certain parts of Africa and South America are very similar. The rocks in South
America show a “graining” pattern similar to the pattern on rocks in the Sahara Shield of Africa.
The rocks that show this graining pattern are quite old, about 2 billion years old. Just next to
this area in Africa are rocks that are much younger, only 500 million years old.
Would a similar pattern of rocks be found in South America?
Confident that they would find it, a group of geologists went to South America looking for a
sharp boundary between old and new rocks that was the same as the boundary in Africa.
They found it in exactly the place they thought it would be!
Some skeptical scientists thought their discovery was “just luck”. But was it?
Image source: https://www.williamsmith2015.org/Plate-Tectonics/Chap1-Pioneers-of-Plate-Tectonics/AlfredWegener/Geological-Fit-of-Coastlines
CA NGSS Roll Out #3: Tool E to 6-8 Learning Sequence.
Text adapted from: Demanche, E.L, Kyselka, W., Pottenger III, F. M., & Young, D.B. (1996). Change Over Time: FAST 3,
Foundational Approaches in Science Teaching, University of Hawaii’s Curriculum Research & Development Group, Honolulu,
Hawai’i. Images from: http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/dynamic.html unless otherwise noted.
R1
F
South American diamonds found in kimberlite, a type of volcanic rock, are small in size in the
west, near the Pacific Ocean. These diamonds are bigger in size the further east you go,
towards the Atlantic Ocean.
Diamonds in the kimberlite of the Sahara Shield of Africa also increase in size toward the east.
This gradual increase in size with distance seemed to show a pattern between the continents of
South America and Africa.
Alfred Wegener used this evidence from diamonds. He also used evidence from matching
mountains on both sides of the Atlantic.
Image source: Demanche, E.L, Kyselka, W., Pottenger III, F. M., &
Young, D.B. (1996). Change Over Time: FAST 3, Foundational
Approaches in Science Teaching, University of Hawaii’s Curriculum
Research & Development Group, Honolulu, Hawai’i.
CA NGSS Roll Out #3: Tool E to 6-8 Learning Sequence.
Text adapted from: Demanche, E.L, Kyselka, W., Pottenger III, F. M., & Young, D.B. (1996). Change Over Time: FAST 3,
Foundational Approaches in Science Teaching, University of Hawaii’s Curriculum Research & Development Group, Honolulu,
Hawai’i. Images from: http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/dynamic.html unless otherwise noted.
R1
G
Long ago, the Caledonian Mountain Range in Scotland was a mighty mountain system with
peaks as high as those of the Himalayas today. That was perhaps 400-500 million years ago.
But a long period of erosion has leveled the range so that now only its roots remain.
Leftovers of the old Caledonia Mountains are found in Norway, in Scotland, and in the northern
part of Africa as well. Leftovers of the western edge of the mountain system are found in
Greenland, in Canada, and along the eastern coast of the United States.
Image source: https://www.asu.edu/courses/gph111/PlateTectonics/PTmountains.jpg
What a huge mountain range, with its eastern flank in Europe and its western flank in America!
But, this isn’t the only surprising mountain range! The Cape Mountains of Africa match the
Sierras of Buenos Aires in South America. Another range to the North also matches quite well
on both continents. In fact, there are six matching mountain ranges!
CA NGSS Roll Out #3: Tool E to 6-8 Learning Sequence.
Text adapted from: Demanche, E.L, Kyselka, W., Pottenger III, F. M., & Young, D.B. (1996). Change Over Time: FAST 3,
Foundational Approaches in Science Teaching, University of Hawaii’s Curriculum Research & Development Group, Honolulu,
Hawai’i. Images from: http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/dynamic.html unless otherwise noted.
R1
H
Scientists realized that certain fossils appear in bands across continents that are now separated
by thousands of miles of ocean.
Most traditional scientists felt that there must have been several “land bridges” that are now at
the bottom of the ocean, out of sight.
The revolutionaries realized that the continents must have once been connected. The leader of
this revolution named it Pangaea (meaning “all lands”).
Oh, how they laughed Wegener for his theory. His theory was crazy enough, but he had no
evidence to explain HOW the continents had moved into their current positions. What
FORCE could possibly cause this?
Was the revolution over?
CA NGSS Roll Out #3: Tool E to 6-8 Learning Sequence.
Text adapted from: Demanche, E.L, Kyselka, W., Pottenger III, F. M., & Young, D.B. (1996). Change Over Time: FAST 3,
Foundational Approaches in Science Teaching, University of Hawaii’s Curriculum Research & Development Group, Honolulu,
Hawai’i. Images from: http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/dynamic.html unless otherwise noted.
Scientific Revolution
R1
Suggestion: students build a table in their science notebooks to track important information.
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CA NGSS Roll Out #3: Tool E to 6-8 Learning Sequence.
Text adapted from: Demanche, E.L, Kyselka, W., Pottenger III, F. M., & Young, D.B. (1996). Change Over Time: FAST 3,
Foundational Approaches in Science Teaching, University of Hawaii’s Curriculum Research & Development Group, Honolulu,
Hawai’i. Images from: http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/dynamic.html unless otherwise noted.