Go to our classroom site to view the following links.

FRIST: Watch this video about Pangaea:

SECOND: Look at this interactive:

THIRD: Do the activity on the following pages.

Name ______Date ______Period _____ Score out of 40_____

Fossils in Time Activity

Movements of Earth's continental and oceanic plates through time, with associated changes in climate and geographic connections, have affected the past and present distribution of organisms.Fossils provide evidence of how life and environmental conditions have changed.

In early 1915, the German scientist Alfred Wegener theorized all of the continents had been part of one large land mass about 225 million years ago. This super-continent was called Pangaea, a Greek word that means “all earth.” It broke up over time, and the pieces have been drifting apart ever since.

A few years after Wegener proposed his theory, South African geologist, Alexander Du Toit, further theorized that Pangaea divided into two supercontinents. Du Toit called the northern supercontinent,

Laurasia, and the southern one called Gondwanaland.

In this investigation you will use several fossils to try to reconstruct how Earth's landmasses may have appeared approximately 225 million years ago.

Fossils are the remains or evidence of living organisms. They come in different forms, including casts, molds, imprints, amber, and ice of both plants and animals. Scientists use fossils as a tool to understand how the continents appeared millions of years ago.

Materials

• Fossil map• Glue stick

• Scissors• Title Page

Cut out the continents and color the patterned areas with colored pencils.

Assemble the continents and land masses (Africa, India, Australia, Antarctica, South America, and Madagascar) together on the title page. The patterned areas (fossil plant and animal occurrences) along with the shape of each landmass will provide clues to how the continents fit together.

Glue and label each continent.

Note: Central American did not exist 240 million years ago. India was once attached to Africa and Antarctica.

Table 1 Fossils and Where Found

Description / Locations found
• / A mammal-like reptile, not
a dinosaur the size of a / South America
wolf
(Argentina),
• / Lived on open plains
southern Africa
• / Probably warm-blooded
(near Cape Town)
• / May have given birth to
live young
• / Deciduous (loses leaves in / southern tip of India
Antarctica
the cool season)
(Prince herald Coast and
• / Seed fern
Oates Coast)
• / Leaves tongue shaped
Southeastern Australia
• / About 12 ft (3.6 m) tall
(near Melbourne),
• / Reptile (not a dinosaur)
• / No teeth – two tusk-like / Antarctica
fangs made of horn / (Wilhelm II Coast)
• / Plant-eater / Madagascar
• / 3 feet (1 m) long / Africa (Eastern Tanzania)
• / Lived in herds near lakes / Central India
and swamps.
• / Fresh-water dwelling
reptile (not a dinosaur)
• / Carnivore - probably ate
fish and shrimp
• / Elongated head and snout / southern South America
with nostrils near its eyes / (Eastern Brazil)
• / Flattened tail used for / West Africa (Cameroon)
swimming
Mesosaurus / • / 1.5 feet (45 cm) long. was
one of the first aquatic
reptiles.

Name ______Date ______Period ______

Stop and think (2 points each)

For each plant or animal, explain if it would have been possible for them to have crossed the ocean if the continents were in their present day configuration.

1. Cynognathus ______

______

______

______

2. Glossopteris ______

______

______

3. Lystrosaurus______

______

______

4. Mesosaurus______

______

______

5. Which of the fossils were found in Antarctica?

______

6. Finding reptile-like fossils in Antarctica seems strange or unexpected. Why?

______

______

  1. Glossopteris is an extinct type of plant referred to as a seed fern. These plants most likely thrived in warm tropical climates. Do any of the locations where the fossils of the glossopteris have been found seem strange? Explain your answer.

______

______

8. How did the fossils of Cynognathus help you construct your map?

______

______

  1. Where on your new map is Australia? What continents is it connected to? Which fossils did you use to help place Australia? How were they useful?

______

______

______

  1. What other evidence might be useful for connecting the continents together into one giant landmass?

______

______

______

Fossil Map

  1. Color the fossils with colored pencils, each in its own color. (1 point)
  2. Cut out the land masses and label each.
  1. Assemble the continents and land masses (Africa, India, Australia, Antarctica, South America, and Madagascar) togetheron blank paper. (The patterned areas (fossil plant and animal occurrences) along with the shape of each landmass will provide clues to how the continents fit together.)
  2. Glue the land masses in the correct order on the paper. (3 Points)


Analysis Questions

  1. What characteristics do you think enable a plant or animal to survive the breakup of a continent? Think of at least two characteristics. (4 points)

1 –

2 –

  1. Scientists have foundMesosaurusfossils on the east coast of the southern tip of South America and the west coast of South Africa. Even though we know this animal could swim, does the presence ofMesosaurusfossil remains in two places support Wegener and Du Toit's theory? Give at least one piece of evidence to support your idea. (4 Points)
  1. Do you think the breakup of Pangaea during the Jurassic period led to the extinction of some dinosaurs and the evolution of other dinosaurs? Explain your thinking. (4 Points)
  1. Scientists have evidence thatGlossopteriswas found in what is now India, Antarctica, Australia, and Madagascar. What does this tell you aboutGlossopteris? What does it tell you about the climate and environment of Gondwanaland? Explain why you think this? (4 Points)