Download Continental Drift

Continental Drift
Visit phSchool.com again. Web code: cfp- 1015
Choose continental drift button. And move bar across bottom of picture to make the continents move.
Repeat as needed to fill in the table. For location note its relationship to the equator.
Background Information: The equator has uniform day length and so less seasonal changes in temperature.
It also experiences more direct sunlight. The equator is always warm. The farther the north or south from
the equator the days are shorter and longer and so experience more seasonal changes. These areas receive
more indirect or angled sunlight and so climate is warm in summer and cold in winter.
Continent
225 mya
180 mya
135 mya
present
North America
green
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South America
Gold
Europe-Asia
purple
India
Yellow
Antarctica
Lavender
Australia
Orange
1. Which continents moved away from the equator and so got colder?
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2. Which continents moved towards the equator and so got warmer?
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3. Estimate when North and South America were not connected.
From _______________mya to _________________________mya
4. Which continent moved the most and so experienced the most climate change?
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5. Which continent stayed the closest to the equator for this time period and so
experienced the least climate change?
(hint: it is not Africa}
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6. The continent that stayed at the equator (question 4) is the continent with the
most bio-diversity (number of different species), Explain this.
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7. Fossils of early glossopteris fern/plants are found on all continents. These early
plants evolved when Pangea existed. How long ago must ferns evolved?
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8. Fossils of a plant eating reptile Lystrosaurus was found in Africa, India, and
Antarctica . What does the fossils of Lystrosaurus in separate places suggest?
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9. Most marsupials (pouched mammals) live in Australia. What can you infer
about the evolution of marsupials using continental drift?
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10. How did the slow geological change in earth by continental drift produce changes to
the distribution of life on earth? A thoughtful answer will include three ideas.
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