Name: Tyler Hansen

Content Area: Earth Grade Level(s): 9th Grade Topic(s): Plate Tectonics
Science

Standards

ES.1 The student will plan and conduct investigations in which:

a) volume, area, mass, elapsed time, direction, temperature, pressure,
distance, density, and changes in elevation/depth are calculated utilizing
the most appropriate tools;
b) technologies, including computers, probeware, and geospatial
technologies, are used to collect, analyze, and report data and to
demonstrate concepts and simulate experimental conditions;
c) scales, diagrams, charts, graphs, tables, imagery, models, and profiles
are constructed and interpreted;
d) maps and globes are read and interpreted, including location by latitude
and longitude;
e) variables are manipulated with repeated trials; and
f) current applications are used to reinforce Earth science concepts.

ES. 2 The student will demonstrate an understanding of the nature of science

and scientific reasoning and logic. Key concepts include:
a) science explains and predicts the interactions and dynamics of complex
Earth systems;
b) evidence is required to evaluate hypotheses and explanations;
c) observation and logic are essential for reaching a conclusion; and
d) evidence is evaluated for scientific theories.
ES. 7 The student will investigate and understand geologic processes including
plate tectonics. Key concepts include:
a) geologic processes and their resulting features; and
b) tectonic processes.

ES. 9 The student will investigate and understand that many aspects of the
history and evolution of Earth and life can be inferred by studying rocks and
fossils. Key concepts include:
a) traces and remains of ancient, often extinct, life are preserved by
various means in many sedimentary rocks;
b) superposition, cross-cutting relationships, index fossils, and radioactive
decay are methods of dating bodies of rock;
c) absolute and relative dating have different applications but can be used
together to determine the age of rocks and structures; and
d) rocks and fossils from many different geologic periods and epochs are
found in Virginia.

ES. 10 The student will investigate and understand that oceans are complex,
interactive physical, chemical, and biological systems and are subject to long-
and short-term variations. Key concepts include:
d) features of the seafloor as reflections of tectonic processes;

Objectives (UKDs)

Students will understand that:

- Features of the seafloor that are related to plate tectonic processes
include mid-ocean ridges and trenches (continental margins, trenches,
and mid-ocean ridges).
- The history of Earth and the ages of rocks can be investigated and
 understood by studying rocks and fossils.
- Fossils, superposition, and cross-cutting relations are used to determine
the relative ages of rocks.
- Most large scale, high-energy events of geologic activity (e.g.,
earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountain building) occur as a result of
relative motion along plate boundaries.
- Relative plate motions and plate boundaries are convergent (subduction
and continental collision), divergent (seafloor spreading), or transform.
- Most volcanic activity is associated with subduction, rifting, or seafloor
spreading. Hot spot volcanic activity, such as volcanic islands, is
exceptional in that it is not related to plate boundaries but derived from a
deep, localized heat source.
- Continental drift is a consequence of plate tectonics.
Students will know:
Key terms:
- Convergent
- Divergent
- Transform
- Subduction
What the break-up of Pangaea looked like and how it happened.
The students will be able to do:
- Analyze the various structures produced in convergent and divergent plate
boundaries.
- Offer interpretations of the tectonic history of an area based on the range
and type of rocks and fossils found in that area.
- Compare and contrast the tectonic activity of the east coast and the west
coast of North America.
- Comprehend and apply the details of Plate Tectonics Theory to the
formation of continents, mountain chains, island arcs, deep open trenches,
 earthquake zones, and continental and mid-ocean volcanism.

Topic/Essential Question

- What evidence could be used to prove the existence of plate tectonic

theory?
- Where do most earthquakes and volcanic activity occur? Why?

Materials & Resources

- Laptop
- Worksheet

Safety Considerations

N/A

Engage Time Estimate ___5 min_____

Say to the students, So at this point, we have talked about Alfred Wegener and
his theory for plate tectonics and how it evolved from the theory of continental
drift. We have also talked about the layers of the earth, can someone in the room
please give me one of the layers?

At this point draw a circle on the board with 5 different layers, one for each layer
of the earth and fill in the layers when each are called out. The teacher may need
to assist the students to share the information that they already covered.
We have also gone over the different types of plate tectonic boundaries found in
our earth. What are they?

- Convergent- Good and what features can we typically find here?

- Volcanoes, Subduction Zones, Trenches
- Divergent- Good and what features can we typically find here?
- Ridges, Seafloor spreading
- Transform

Next tell the students, So knowing all of this, we can safely conclude that the
continents were originally formed and broken up by a squirrel. Majority of the
students will be wondering where the teacher is going with this, but almost all of
them will think that the teacher is lame and weird. Play this video as a brief and
fun introduction to plate tectonics:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zocutif0cQY

Explore Time Estimate __60 min______

Now obviously this is not how the continents split apart. In fact, we have found
that the continents have been converging and diverging repeatedly throughout
earths history. Today we are going to be focused on one of those breakups in
particular. Pangaea.
Below is the exercise and the link to the Pangaea break-up interactive website.
Walk around the room and assist students with pulling up the website and
helping them explore it. Break the class up into partners or groups so that the lab
may run a bit smoother. It may be beneficial to have the website preloaded on all
of the computers before class begins if possible. This exercise and use of
computers will most likely take about a full hour, so plan accordingly following the
exercise. Several components of the lesson might have to get pushed into the
following lesson if need be.

Pangaea Breakup Exercise Mr. Hansen: Geology

Step 1:
Open the Firefox internet browser (Firefox required) and enter the website

http://geode.net/pangaea/

A virtual globe rendering of the supercontinent Pangaea should appear after a few
minutes (this may take longer on an off-campus computer.)

Step 1a:
You may need to install the Google Earth browser plugin, which can be downloaded
for free by entering the link provided. Follow the instructions as directed on the
webpage.

Step 1b:
Once the Google Earth plugin has been installed, refresh the page and/or the
browser itself.

Step 2:
At this point you should see something like the image below (It may take the
continents a few minutes to load.)
This is a virtual globe animation of the supercontinent Pangaea and its subsequent
breakup spanning the time period from 200 Ma (million years ago) to the present.
Step 3:
Spend the next several minutes exploring the various aspects of the Pangaea
Breakup interactive animation.

Things to note:
- You can rotate the virtual globe to any desired viewpoint by clicking on
the globe and moving your mouse while holding down the mouse button
- In the upper right corner is a scale bar that you can drag up and down to
zoom in and out of a specific location of your choosing
- You can change the time period shown by sliding the white tab on the
blue bar at the top left corner of the window
- Continents can be selected and deselected via checkboxes by each
continent name
- Other features, such as Mountain Belts, can be shown via the checkboxes
in the Other Features menu
- Explore automated animations of the breakup of Pangaea from other
viewpoints by selecting an animation in the Animations menu
- Under the Controls menu on the left-hand side, you can toggle the
present day plate boundaries, as well as a latitude and longitude grid

Once you have familiarized yourself with the Pangaea Breakup interactive
animation, proceed with the exercise below.
Name(s) Date

Pangaea Breakup Exercise

At this point, you should have already gone over the concepts of plate
tectonics, convection currents, and the theory and evidence supporting Continental
Drift. Previously you observed a cross section of the earth and its layers. Remember
that the outermost layer of the earth is the crust. This is what you will be focusing on
in this exercise. Using the website http://geode.net/pangaea/, answer the following
questions to the best of your ability:

Section 1: The Rifting of Pangaea: 10 multiple choice (1pt each)

1. How many years ago did present-day India break away from present day
Madagascar?
a. 20 Ma
b. 50 Ma
c. 80 Ma
d. 120 Ma

2. When Pangaea was still a supercontinent (150Ma), which present-day continent

occupied the northern most point on Earth (HINT: Toggle Grid Visibility) ?
a. Antarctica
b. Australia
c. Eurasia
d. North America

3. From 90Ma to the present, which geographic location travelled the greatest
distance across the globe?
a. Africa
b. India
c. North America
d. South America

4. During the rifting of Pangaea, what major latitude feature did Virginia cross
(HINT: Select Virginia and toggle grid) ?
a. Arctic Circle
b. Tropic of Cancer
c. Equator
d. Tropic of Capricorn
5. How many years ago did the first Hawaiian island form (HINT: Select Hot Spot
Volcanoes) ?
a. 20 Ma
b. 60 Ma
c. 70 Ma
d. 120Ma

6. What type(s) of present-day plate boundaries lie along the middle of the Atlantic
Ocean (HINT: Toggle Present-day Plate Boundaries) ?
a. Convergent and Transform
b. Divergent and Transform
c. Convergent and Divergent
d. Undefined

7. What was one accuracy found in the beginning of the movie ICE AGE: Continental
Drift?
a. The rate at which the plates separated
b. A squirrel caused the plates to separate
c. The inner core is the site responsible for plate movement
d. The inner core is a solid

8. What mountain belts on now-separated continents were connected as a single

mountain belt on the supercontinent of Pangaea?
a. The Andes and the Rockies
b. The Alps and the Atlas Mountains
c. The Sredinny Range (eastern Asia) and the Sierra Nevada Mountains
d. The Australian Alps and the Transantarctic Mountains

9. Why might the ice be dramatically thicker in Antarctica than the rest of the Polar
Regions?
a. Other polar regions had greater volcanic activity which melted a vast
majority of the ice
b. El Nio helped contain cold air surrounding most of Antarctica for the
duration of the break-up
c. Antarctica did not travel far from the South Pole during the break-up of
Pangaea
d. Antarctica is near a low pressure zone where it accumulates the most
precipitation year-round

10. Where might we find fossils similar to those recently discovered on Antarctica?
a. India
b. Australia
c. Southern Africa
d. All of the above
 Section 2: The Rifting of Pangaea: 5 Short Answer (5pts. each)

11. Check the box labeled Virginia under the Other Features menu. Over the course
of the last 150 million years, does Virginia ever come into contact with another
continent besides North America? Why or why not? Use present-day plate
boundaries to support your answer.

12. A. Much of the west coast of North America experiences frequent earthquakes of
varying intensity. Why might this be? (HINT: Toggle Present-day Plate
Boundaries)

B. List the types of plate boundaries located along the west coast of North
America.

C. Find and record all of the names of the tectonic plates that surround the Cocos
Plate. (HINT: Deselect all the continents and turn on Present-day Plate
Boundaries.)
13. Focus on Madagascar and India off the southern coast of Africa and, starting at
150 Ma, pay particular attention to how these sub-continents / islands separate
from Africa and travel over time (HINT: Select the Southern Ocean animation.)
Which sub-continent / island rifts (separates) from Africa first? What changes at 90
Ma? Describe in terms of the tectonic relationships of Madagascar and Africa vs.
Madagascar and India.

14. Similar fossils dating back to the same time period were found on both the
eastern South American coastline and the western African coastline by geologist
Alexander Du Toit. In addition to these locations, find another pair of
now-separated, geographical locations / continents that likely has similar fossils.

15. Watch the Centered on India animation and turn on the Mountain Belts
feature. Why are the Himalayas along Indias border the highest mountains in the
world? Think in terms of tectonic movement.

Pangaea Breakup Exercise Mr. Hansen: Geology

TEACHER KEY
Step 1:
Open the Firefox internet browser (Firefox required) and enter the website

http://geode.net/pangaea/

A virtual globe rendering of the supercontinent Pangaea should appear after a few
minutes (this may take longer on an off-campus computer.)

Step 1a:
You may need to install the Google Earth browser plugin, which can be downloaded
for free by entering the link provided. Follow the instructions as directed on the
webpage.

Step 1b:
Once the Google Earth plugin has been installed, refresh the page and/or the
browser itself.

Step 2:
At this point you should see something like the image below (It may take the
continents a few minutes to load.)
This is a virtual globe animation of the supercontinent Pangaea and its subsequent
breakup spanning the time period from 200 Ma (million years ago) to the present.
Step 3:
Spend the next several minutes exploring the various aspects of the Pangaea
Breakup interactive animation.

Things to note:
- You can rotate the virtual globe to any desired viewpoint by clicking on
the globe and moving your mouse while holding down the mouse button
- In the upper right corner is a scale bar that you can drag up and down to
zoom in and out of a specific location of your choosing
- You can change the time period shown by sliding the white tab on the
blue bar at the top left corner of the window
- Continents can be selected and deselected via checkboxes by each
continent name
- Other features, such as Mountain Belts, can be shown via the checkboxes
in the Other Features menu
- Explore automated animations of the breakup of Pangaea from other
viewpoints by selecting an animation in the Animations menu
- Under the Controls menu on the left-hand side, you can toggle the
present day plate boundaries, as well as a latitude and longitude grid

Once you have familiarized yourself with the Pangaea Breakup interactive
animation, proceed with the exercise below.

Name(s) KEY Date

Pangaea Breakup Exercise

At this point, you should have already gone over the concepts of plate
tectonics, convection currents, and the theory and evidence supporting Continental
Drift. Previously you observed a cross section of the earth and its layers. Remember
that the outermost layer of the earth is the crust. This is what you will be focusing on
in this exercise. Using the website http://geode.net/pangaea/, answer the following
questions to the best of your ability:

Section 1: The Rifting of Pangaea: 10 multiple choice (1pt each)

1. How many years ago did present-day India break away from present day
Madagascar?
(Show India break-up animation/year by year separation)
a. 20 Ma
 b. 50 Ma
c. 80 Ma
d. 120 Ma

2. When Pangaea was still a supercontinent (150Ma), which present-day continent

occupied the northern most point on Earth (HINT: Toggle Grid Visibility) ?
a. Antarctica
b. Australia
c. Eurasia
d. North America

3. From 90Ma to the present, which geographic location travelled the greatest
distance across the globe?
(Show India break-up animation/year by year separation)
a. Africa
b. India
c. North America
d. South America

4. During the rifting of Pangaea, what major latitude feature did Virginia cross
(HINT: Select Virginia and toggle Grid) ?
a. Arctic Circle
b. Tropic of Cancer
c. Equator
d. Tropic of Capricorn

5. How many years ago did the first Hawaiian island form (HINT: Select Hot Spot
Volcanoes) ?
(Show Hawaiian hot spot animation/ year by year transition)
a. 20 Ma
b. 60 Ma
c. 70 Ma
d. 120Ma

6. What type(s) of present-day plate boundaries lie along the middle of the Atlantic
Ocean (HINT: Toggle Present-day Plate Boundaries) ?
a. Convergent and Transform
b. Divergent and Transform
c. Convergent and Divergent
d. Undefined

7. What was one accuracy found in the beginning of the movie ICE AGE: Continental
Drift?
a. The rate at which the plates separated
 b. A squirrel caused the plates to separate
c. The inner core is the site responsible for plate movement
d. The inner core is a solid

8. What mountain belts on now-separated continents were connected as a single

mountain belt on the supercontinent of Pangaea?
(Toggle Mountain Belts and focus in on Antarctica)
a. The Andes and the Rockies
b. The Alps and the Atlas Mountains
c. The Sredinny Range (eastern Asia) and the Sierra Nevada Mountains
d. The Australian Alps and the Transantarctic Mountains

9. Why might the ice be dramatically thicker in Antarctica than the rest of the Polar
Regions?
a. Other polar regions had greater volcanic activity which melted a vast
majority of the ice
b. El Nio helped contain cold air surrounding most of Antarctica for the
duration of the break-up
c. Antarctica did not travel far from the South Pole during the break-up of
Pangaea
d. Antarctica is near a low pressure zone where it accumulates the most
precipitation year-round

10. Where might we find fossils similar to those recently discovered on Antarctica?
(Toggle fossil data around Antarctica)
a. India
b. Australia
c. Southern Africa
d. All of the above

Section 2: The Rifting of Pangaea: 5 Short Answer (5pts. each)

11. Check the box labeled Virginia under the Other Features menu. Over the course
of the last 150 million years, does Virginia ever come into contact with another
continent besides North America? Why or why not? Use present-day plate
boundaries to support your answer.

No because Virginia is constantly being pushed away from the divergent boundary
found in the mid-atlantic (Mid-atlantic ridge)
12. A. Much of the west coast of North America experiences frequent earthquakes of
varying intensity. Why might this be? (HINT: Toggle Present-day Plate
Boundaries)

This is because the west coast lies along the ring of fire and along its edge are
convergent and transform plate boundaries that are mostly between the Pacific
plate and the North American plate. These boundary types create great tension in
that area that makes the area very prone to earthquakes.

B. List the types of plate boundaries located along the west coast of North
America.

Transform and Convergent

C. Find and record all of the names of the tectonic plates that surround the Cocos
Plate. (HINT: Deselect all the continents and turn on Present-day Plate
Boundaries.)

Nazca Plate, North American Plate, Caribbean Plate, Pacific Plate

- The South American plate is close, but it clearly does not share a border with
it.

13. Focus on Madagascar and India off the southern coast of Africa and, starting at
150 Ma, pay particular attention to how these sub-continents / islands separate
from Africa and travel over time (HINT: Select the Southern Ocean animation.)
Which sub-continent / island rifts (separates) from Africa first? What changes at 90
Ma? Describe in terms of the tectonic relationships of Madagascar and Africa vs.
Madagascar and India.

Madagascar breaks away from Africa first and is connected to India. At 90Ma, a
divergent event occurs that splits present-day India off of Madagascar and travel
with great speed towards the Eurasian Plate, eventually creating the Himalayas.
14. Similar fossils dating back to the same time period were found on both the
eastern South American coastline and the western African coastline by geologist
Alexander Du Toit. In addition to these locations, find another pair of
now-separated, geographical locations / continents that likely has similar fossils.

Australia and Antarctica

Antarctica and South America
North America and Europe

15. Watch the Centered on India animation and turn on the Mountain Belts
feature. Why are the Himalayas along Indias border the highest mountains in the
world? Think in terms of tectonic movement.

Because India traveled at such a high velocity and impacted the Eurasian continent
with such force when it converged that the sheer magnitude of the plates colliding
continues to this day, continuously increasing the height of the mountains.

Explain -- Time Estimate _10 min_______

- When the class is all just about finished, ask the class, which questions
they were unsure about and have others in the class answer the question
for them. Correct mistakes where necessary. The teacher may end up
going through each question, which is alright as long as there is about 15
minutes left in class by the time the teacher is done. The main thing to
focus on is to have the students work collaboratively to provide answers
for each other, instead of having the teacher simply tell them the answers.
Make sure students correct their mistakes as the brief discussion is going
on.

Extend -- Time Estimate ___10 min_____

- Now knowing where certain plate boundaries are, ask the students to
 group up and formulate a prediction for what they think will happen in the
next 200 million years to the continent of North America, based off plate
tectonic boundaries. Have the groups write down their predictions.

Evaluate -- Time Estimate __5 min______

- Briefly go around each group and have them explain their prediction and
what evidence they have to support their prediction. This allows both the
teacher and students to see student thinking and progress and allows the
teacher to gauge their understanding. This will act as a formative
assessment that will affect the outcome of what will be more heavily
reviewed for the review day for this unit.
Technology

- The use of this interactive website (created by Mr. Hansen and Dr.
Whitmeyer) provides insight to students and gives them a 3D model of
how the earths surface history has changed over time.

Plans for Diversity

- Students that have a disability, whether it be mental or physical, could

have a tough time maneuvering around the interactive lab on the
computer. Make sure to pair these students up with a student that is more
able bodied to help them navigate the website and work collaboratively on
the answers.

Connections

- Plate tectonics alone connects Virginia to the outside world and how it
shifts and moves compared to the rest of the world.
- This lesson will also lead into the next lessons about volcanoes and where
they form and why. This will be especially beneficial for when the students
present their volcano research project.