Title: RECONSTRUCTING PANGAEA

1. CUT OUT the landmasses. Use the legend to identify the symbols on each island or continent.
2. Puzzle me this. Look at the shapes of continents and islands. What landmasses seem to fit together?
3. Let’s rock! Examine the evidence and try to match up landmass boundaries that show similar rock
strata, fossilized desert belts, and dinosaur fossils.
4. Hold that Pose. Look over the arrangement of the continents and islands and decide if the position of
any of them should change. When you are satisfied with your map of Pangaea, tape or glue it down on
the world map. (Refer to the next page.)
NAMES: _______________________________________________________ 10: ___

I. Pangaea

1. What is the idea of Continental Drift?

The idea of continental drift is that the continents shift their position in the Earth’s surface. These
continents continue to move at a rate of 2.5cm per year. This movement is caused by the continuous
churning of the magma underneath the Earth’s crust.

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

The continents South America and Africa has the most obvious fit of the coastlines. The two continents
are like puzzle pieces which perfectly fit when connected together.

3. How were the fossil symbols and mountain belts helpful in deciding where to move the continents?
Fossil symbols and mountain belts help in determining the original positions of the continents since the
movements of plates causes mountain belts to form.

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? (Refer to the picture below.)
The fossil that occurs on most landmasses is the fern Glossopteris. This suggest that the plant is widely
distributed when the continents broke up. That is why fossils of this plant can be found in different parts
of the world