L1+Fecteau+Cameron

               **UNIVERSITY OF MAINE AT FARMINGTON** **COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, HEALTH AND REHABILITATION **  **LESSON PLAN FORMAT **       Maine Learning Results: Science and Technology - D. The Physical Setting D2. Earth Grade 6-8 Geology Students describe the various cycles, physical and biological forces and processes, position in space, energy transformations, and human actions that affect the short-term and long-term changes to the Earth. f. Give examples of abrupt changes and slow changes in Earth Systems.      <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Students will be provided with a checklist so that their accuracy of the continents, spelling, peer revisions, and teacher's feedback is completed. Class discussions will also help determine whether or not students have a good grip on the material. At the end of the class I will have the students bow their heads and close their eyes. They will then give me a thumbs up, a thumbs down, or anywhere in between suggesting their understanding. A confidential photograph will be taken for a visual artifact to see my students' progress. I will also check for students' understanding by looking over their script rough drafts. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Maps and Comic life- Students are using their continental cut-out maps, taking photographs, and loading it into a digital source. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Think Pair Share: As students enter the classroom, they will be handed a photograph of a mountain, river, volcanoes, earthquake, and so on. Students will be confronted with a question and then be given time to individually process their ideas. The students will further develop their ideas with their matching photograph partner and compare each other’s sequences. When the partners come to terms with both sequences, then they will share with the class as a whole. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> //<span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> I will review student’s IEP, 504 or ELLIDEP and make appropriate modifications and accommodations. //<span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">
 * __<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Teacher’s Name __****<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">: **<span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Mr. Fecteau **<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> __Date of Lesson__: **<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">1
 * __<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Grade Level __****<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">: **<span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">6 - 8 **<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> __Topic__: **<span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Create; Geology/Earth <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">
 * __<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Objectives __**<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Student will understand that **<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> the Earth's crust has transformed since Pangaea to present day, and will continue to change in the future.
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Student will know **<span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">the sequence of continental drift and the timelines of Pangaea, Gondwanaland, and Laurasia. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Student will be able to do **<span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">a map and a comic life version of the various stages of plate movement. Stages will start from Pangaea and go to present day. Students' predictions of what might happen in the near future will also be considered. Product: map and Comic life. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">
 * __<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Maine Learning Results Alignment __**
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Rationale: **<span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">This lesson will be completed by students putting their heads together in cooperative learning and being able to see the final product before them as a useful resource. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">
 * __<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Assessment __**
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Formative (Assessment for Learning) **
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Summative (Assessment of Learning) **
 * __<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Integration __**<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">
 * __ Technology:  __**<span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> As the teacher, I will be using technology in the hook, which will be a YouTube video of the mechanical processes of plate boundaries. Students are incorporating the technological aspect through Comic Life when they go to upload their posters. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">
 * __ Subject:  __**<span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> History- Students are researching and studying the past events of the Earth's oceanic and continental plates. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">
 * __<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Groupings __**<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">
 * __<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Differentiated Instruction __**
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Strategies **
 * Verbal: **<span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> The class, group, and pair discussions provide interaction.
 * Logical:** The Sequence Chart gives students the organization part of the lesson.
 * Visual:** The final poster product will give the students an overall view of the big idea.
 * Bodily-Kinesthetic**: Students are up and moving in between groups.
 * Musical**: Constructive music will be playing while the students are working. If students have their own music, then they can listen to their audio devices at a reasonable level.
 * Interpersonal**: Organize the information of the lesson individually in the Think section of the cooperative learning.
 * Intrapersonal**: The cooperative learning of Think, Pair, Share will provide these students with their needs.
 * Naturalist:** Students are continuously thinking about how the Earth's continents will move. There will be magnetic continents on the whiteboard. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Modifications/Accommodations **

If a student misses a class, then they are expected to get the class notes from his or hers' peers. If a particular assignment was due the day of their returning, then they are also expected to have it completed the following day for me. If a student is incapable of doing the assigned work, then a note from a doctor or parent will be taken into consideration for an extended due date. If no note is given, then the student will receive a zero for the assignment. If the student also fails to turn in the homework assignment even with the extended due date, then the consequences are the same as the regular. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Students will do an additional blog entry that will be based off their personal theory of the next steps after Pangaea Ultima. A sketch will also help support their guess so that other students can see their explanation. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Glue Laptop Projector Scissors Color Construction Paper Poster Paper Camera Pencils/colored Photographed Images Graphic Organizer Comic Life Software <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Plate Tectonics [] Overview of plate tectonics from Alfred Wegener to visuals of the last 750 million years. [] Outlines the plates and what is happening on the edges of the plates. [] Maps of Earth's stages. [] Video for the hook. [] Source for images and concepts. [] Images possibly used. [] Informational text. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Students that look for procedural guidance and precise directions will find the lesson helpful as they can follow the instructions that are outlined on the board. These instructions will be announced verbally so all students understand what the goal is. Also, the overall procedure of how the lesson is carried out, goes step by step; discussion, sequence chart, rough draft, poster, and product. For the students that want to go above and beyond discovery to ask why, then this lesson applies because it demands exploring the history and formation of the Earth. Students that really look for the positive side and peer interaction in a lesson is able to because during cooperative learning students discuss with their peers, teachers, and the class as a whole. Other students that thrive for excitement and fun are able to experience this by viewing the hook and using different variations in Comic Life. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">The facet that this lesson is using is Apply. In the lesson student will create a map and a comic life version of the various stages of plate movement. Stages will start from Pangaea and go to present day. Students' predictions of what might happen in the near future will also be considered. This lesson will be completed by students putting their heads together in cooperative learning and being able to see the final product before them as a useful resource. For contents notes, please see below Teaching and Learning Sequence section. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Extensions **
 * __<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Materials, Resources and Technology __**
 * __<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Source for Lesson Plan and Research __**
 * __<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Maine Standards for Initial Teacher Certification and Rationale __**
 * //<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Standard 3 - Demonstrates a knowledge of the diverse ways in which students learn and develop by providing learning opportunities that support their intellectual, physical, emotional, social, and cultural development. //**
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Rationale **<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">:
 * //<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">• Standard 4 - Plans instruction based upon knowledge of subject matter, students, curriculum goals, and learning and development theory. //**
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Rationale **<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">:
 * //<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">• Standard 5 - Understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies and appropriate technology to meet students’ needs. //**
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Rationale **<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">:
 * Verbal: **<span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> The class, group, and pair discussions provide interaction.
 * Logical:** The Sequence Chart gives students the organization part of the lesson.
 * Visual:** The final poster product will give the students an overall view of the big idea.
 * Bodily-Kinesthetic**: Students are up and moving in between groups.
 * Musical**: Constructive music will be playing while the students are working. If students have their own music, then they can listen to their audio devices at a reasonable level.
 * Interpersonal**: Organize the information of the lesson individually in the Think section of the cooperative learning.
 * Intrapersonal**: The cooperative learning of Think, Pair, Share will provide these students with their needs.
 * Naturalist:** Students are continuously thinking about how the Earth's continents will move. There will be magnetic continents on the whiteboard.

Students are going to use Type II technology through blogging after every class for reflection and the Comic Life for the product. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Students will be provided with a checklist so that their accuracy of the continents, spelling, peer revisions, and teacher's feedback is completed. The maps and Comic Life will be the students' final product. Students are using their continental cut-out maps, taking photographs, and loading it into a digital source to complete this task. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> Students are given picture cards and seated. Hook Time: 5 minutes <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Go over instructions on board. Time: 5 minutes Students will individually fill out the graphic organizer. Time: 10 minutes Students will then think in pairs. Time: 15 minutes Pairs share out loud with class. Time: 30 minutes Students individually fill in organizer for final thoughts. 10 minutes Directional handout is given. Research and design maps/rough drafts. Time: 35 minutes Write in blogs. Time: 10 minutes
 * //<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">• Standard 8 - Understands and uses a variety of formal and informal assessment strategies to evaluate and support the development of the learner. //**
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Rationale **<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">:
 * __<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Teaching and Learning Sequence __****<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">: **
 * Day 1 **<span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">

For this lesson students will be arranged in a perimeter formation so that all students are facing towards the front of the room, and so that they can face their peers. As students enter the classroom, they will be handed a photograph of a mountain, river, volcano, earthquake, and so on. These photographs will be used later on in the lesson to pair up with their picture buddy for cooperative learning. The classroom would then be filled with energetic and social students, therefore I would flicker the lights signaling them that it is time to put on our thinking caps. I will begin the class by presenting my hook, which is a X-Science Plate Tectonic YouTube video. After the video clip, students will be given a graphic organizer that allows students to sequence events. The instructions on the board will be covered verbally so that all students understand. Next, I will confront my students with a question that follows along the lines of; where did the continents use to be and where do they plan to go if they proceed to move? Individually students will use the graphic organizers to think about the question before pairing up with another peer. Once they have finished thinking, he or she will meet up and elaborate more in depth with their peer. In this discussion they will compare and contrast each other's outlook, and come to an understanding. The students will then go around the room clockwise and share their theories towards the question. A class discussion will break out and students are able to go back and jot-in additional notes. Students will understand that the Earth's crust has transformed since Pangaea to present day, and will continue to change in the future. Students will need to know the mechanics of how these continents move because it directly correlates to what the future continents will look like. Students describe the various cycles, physical and biological forces and processes, position in space, energy transformations, and human actions that affect the short-term and long-term changes to the Earth. For my hook I will use the YouTube video that is titled X-Science Plate Tectonic, which will spark the students' mind with questions and theories. The video can be found at [].
 * What, Where, Why, Hook, Tailor: Verbal, Logical, Visual, Bodily-Kinesthetic, Musical, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, Naturalist.**

Students will need to know the sequence of continental drift and the timelines of Pangaea, Gondwanaland, and Laurasia. The instructions for the class will be on the whiteboard and I will verbally go over the board to be sure that it is clear and that any questions are answered. Students will be continuously monitored by me as I will be going from group to group and also hovering for a raised hand. I will check for students' understanding of the topic by collecting their graphic organizers and providing encouraging feedback. Also, at the end of the class I will have the students bow their heads and close their eyes. They will then give me a thumbs up, a thumbs down, or anywhere in between suggesting their understanding. A confidential photograph will be taken for a visual artifact to see my students' progress.
 * Equip, Tailor: Logical, Visual, Bodily-Kinesthetic, Verbal**

My science class students will be given a graphic organizer, also known as a sequence chart. For the cooperative learning aspect of the lesson, students will experience the Think Pair Share process. Again, students will be confronted with a question and then be given time to individually process their ideas. The students will further develop their ideas with a partner and compare each other’s sequences. When the partners come to terms with both sequences, then they will share with the class as a whole. Students will be able to create a map and a Comic Life version of the various stages of plate movement. Stages will start from Pangaea and go to present day. Students' predictions of what might happen in the near future will also be considered. Their final product overall is a map and Comic Life. I will facilitate the learning process by starting with the teaching session and going well into the graphic organizer or sequence chart. The communication between the student and I will be the main fundamental focus. The feedback I give them on the organizer can only help develop with the next step, the storyboard. Here, the students make a rough copy of the Earth's plate movement maps. As students enter the classroom, they will be handed a photograph of a mountain, river, volcano, earthquake, and so on. These photographs will be used later on in the lesson to pair up with their picture buddy for cooperative learning. It will be unnecessary for students to be assigned particular roles because they will have all responsibilities. The evidence that I will use to show that students are learning is the sequence chart, storyboard, final product, and the post-class ten minute blog entry. At the end, the class will come together in a discussion of their observations and thoughts. From there they will go back to their graphic organizers and fill in the blanks that might have been missed. Students will turn in a rough draft of the map and feedback will be given to them for refinements.
 * Explore, Experience, Rethink, Revise, Refine, Tailor: Verbal, Logical, Visual, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, Naturalist**

Students will be provided with a checklist so that their accuracy of the continents, spelling, peer revisions, and teacher's feedback is completed. During the discussion that students have in pairs, direct feedback will be given to them during this time. Students' rough draft storyboards for their posters will be given peer feedback, and looked at by me and given additional feedback for the next day. When the students are done with their posters and Comic Life, they will be collected and assessed for the following week if not sooner. All homework assignments will find their way back to the essential question and would then trace back to the MLR. This lesson gives the students an overview of what happened to the Earth historically, which will connect to the next lesson that will go more in depth of each stage. Students at this point are building their geological foundation of the common knowledge, which will then be applied to the future areas of criteria.
 * Evaluate, Tailor: Intrapersonal, Interpersonal, Visual, Logical, Naturalist**

Hand back the students' rough drafts. Students will research and work on maps. Time: 95 minutes Take photographs of posters and upload them to Comic Life. Time: 15 minutes Blog entries. Time: 10 minutes
 * Day 2**

Make Comic Life. Time: 110 minutes Blog entries. Time: 10 minutes <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">
 * Day 3**
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Content Notes

//__Plate Tectonics__// **<span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> Plate Tectonics is the //"World Theory"// of geology, as it explains most of the important geologic processes, which were enigmatic before. Some say, it has the same importance for geology as has Darwins' evolution theory for biology. However, in science, especially if it is a descriptive science which tries to explore nature, it is a good idea to be careful and keep in mind the difference between facts and theories. Still, plate tectonics is the most important theory in geology and - after half a century of scientific research in this field - a very well supported one. The seven large plates are named in the picture. The smaller ones are: 1 Nazca Plate, 2 Carribbean Plate, 3 Cocos Plate, 4 Juan de Fuca Plate, 5 Arabian Plate, 6 Indian Plate, 7 Philippine Plate, 8 Scotia Plate || <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">The basic point in plate tectonic is, that earth's surface is broken into seven large and many small moving plates, hence the name. These plates move relative to one another an average of a few centimetres per year. Three types of movement are recognized at the **boundaries** between plates: **convergent**, **divergent** and **transform-fault**. This is a rather simple result of the the fact that earth is a sphere with more or less constant diameter. So if two plates move in different direction, they either collide or move away from each other. A special case is when they both move parallel to their boundaray, but with different speed. There are only two types of plates, **continental plate**, which is higher than sea level and **oceanic plate**, which is below sea level. The reason is simple: they are composed of different materials. Continetal plate is thick and composed of sediments and volcanic rocks, oceanic crust is thinner and consist only of a certain kind of volcanic rocks. You can throw wood and polystyrol foam into water and you will see: the foam is lighter, so it swims higher. The same is with the plates, they swim in the (more or less) //"liquid"// upper mantle. Oceanic crust is thinner and heavier, so it swims deeper, continental crust is lighter because of the sedimentary rocks, and thats why it is higher.
 * Plate Tectonics** is a geologic theory explaining the movements and forces in the Earth crust. It was developed during the mid 20th century, but the basic ideas were first put into words by the German geologist **Alfred Wegener** during the 1920s. He published the first version of his theory in 1915, and he called it **Theorie der Kontinentalverschiebung** (continental drift). His therories were based on the form of the contintents, similarities in fossils and contemporary life on different continents, and much more. However, the theory lacked two basic parts: an explanation for the motor of the drift, and a single impressive circumstantial evidence. The bunch of little pieces he had, were to inconclusive to convince the authorities of geology. But over decades more and more facts were discovered, most important probably the so called **sea floor spreading**, and so in the fifties a new theory was developed which met all those new discoveries. This is the theory of **plate tectonics** as we know it today, and although it was adapted to new discoveries in details, the basic idea of the continental drift - the movement of whole continents - was supported by any new find.
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> ||
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Image: **<span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> a map of the most important plates of the world.
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Image: **<span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> a map of the most important plates of the world.

Source: []

In the 1920s, the study of seafloors was advanced when [|sonar], the echo-sounding device, was modified to measure ocean depths. With sonar, submarine topography could be surveyed and the seafloor mapped. Next, geophysicists adapted the airborne magnetometer so that it would record variations in geomagnetic intensity and orientation. Shipborne magnetometric traverses across the mid-ocean ridges showed that the rocks on one side of the ridge produced a mirror-image geomagnetic pattern of the rocks on the other. Age [|dating] of the basaltic crustal rocks of the seafloor showed that those nearest the ridge were distinctly younger (relatively recent, in fact) than those further away. In addition, no blanket of marine sediment was found at the ridge crest, but it appeared on each side and grew older and thicker with increasing distance from the ridge. These observations, added to those of the high heat flow, led to the conviction that the ridge is where new ocean lithosphere is being created; it is carried up by convection currents as hot lava, but is rapidly cooled and consolidated on contact with the cold deep-ocean water. To make room for this continual addition of new lithosphere, the plates on each side of the ridge must slowly but constantly move apart. In the North Atlantic, the rate of movement is only about 1 cm (0.4 in) per year, whereas in the Pacific Ocean it amounts to more than 4 cm (2 in) annually. It is these relatively slow rates of movement, driven by thermal convection currents originating deep in the Earth’s mantle, that have, over the course of millions of years, been generating the phenomenon of continental drift. [|Red Sea] the rift enters the African continent to become an integral part of the famous Great [|Rift Valley], which runs from the Jordan Valley and [|Dead Sea] through the Red Sea to Ethiopia and East Africa. Evidently, the rift marks a split in the continental crust, as well as that of the ocean. [|ocean] floor also revealed, for the first time, that the crest of the mid-ocean ridge is extensively offset by deep cracks, which have been called fracture zones. These cracks mark the course of transform (“strike-slip”) [|faults]  that have developed to accommodate strain generated by uneven rates of seafloor spreading. Although most of these faults are hidden below the ocean, one of them, the earthquake-prone [|San Andreas fault] , emerges from the Pacific Ocean near San Francisco and crosses hundreds of kilometres of land.
 * //__Sea-Floor Spreading__//**

Source: [|http://uk.encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761554623/Plate_Tectonics.html]

In 1620, the English philosopher and statesman [|Francis Bacon]  drew attention to the remarkable similarity in shape between the west coast of Africa and the east coast of South America, although he never actually suggested that the two continents had once been joined together. The proposal that continents could move with respect to each other was first made in 1858 by Antonio Snider, an American living in Paris, but it was left to the German meteorologist [|Alfred Wegener]  to develop the idea in detail, in a book (The Origin of Continents and Oceans) published in 1915. Wegener is therefore often regarded as the originator of the continental drift theory.
 * //__Continental Drift__//**

Source: [|http://uk.encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761555735/Continental_Drift.html]

Around 500 million years ago, the giant continent of Gondwanaland straddled the equator in the eastern hemisphere, with its southern portions near the [|South Pole]. Gondwanaland comprised what were to become the continents of [|South America] ,  [|Africa]  ,  [|Australia]  , and  [|Antarctica]  , as well as the Indian subcontinent. To the west of Gondwanaland were three large continental plates: the [|North American] plate, including what is now [|Greenland] and [|Scotland] ; the North European plate, or Baltica, comprising parts of the [|British Isles], [|Scandinavia] , central and northern [|Europe] , and European [|Russia] ; and, finally, the Scandinavian plate. The North American plate lay across the equator with Baltica to the southeast and the Scandinavian plate to the east. The gradual convergence of these three plates, plus a number of minor plates and microplates, over the next 200 million years would lead to the creation of Laurasia, the continental mass that subsequently broke up to form North America, Europe, and [|Asia], excluding [|India]. At this time, marine life was evolving rapidly. The first plants are thought to have begun colonizing the land during the subsequent [|Ordovician Period] (488 to 444 million years ago).  During the Ordovician and subsequent [|Silurian Period] (444 to 416 million years ago), Gondwanaland began moving south and west across the South Pole. Then, about 400 million years ago, during the [|Devonian Period] (416 to 359 million years ago), the western part of Gondwanaland—now the northern parts of South America and Africa—began moving northward toward the equator.  During this same period, Baltica converged on the North American plate to form a larger continental mass called Euramerica, or Laurussia, initiating one of the many periods of mountain-building (orogeny) that characterized the development of Laurasia. Because it was straddling the South Pole, glaciation affected parts of Gondwanaland throughout this period, and the climate in other parts ranged from subpolar to tropical at its northernmost extremities. North America, and subsequently Laurussia, by contrast, had a largely tropical to warm climate, and significant areas were underwater. Source: [] About 280 to 260 million years ago, during the [|Permian Period] (299 to 251 million years ago), northern Gondwanaland finally met up with southern Laurussia. At about the same time, the Siberian plate collided with northern Laurussia, initiating the mountain-building that created the [|Ural Mountains], completing the development of Laurasia, and creating one large land mass, Pangaea.  The overall shape of Pangaea was similar to a letter “V” lying on its side with the apex to the west. The northern and southern arms of the V, Laurasia and Gondwanaland respectively, were hinged on the Gulf of Mexico and stretched in a broad arc from pole to pole across one face of the globe. They were separated, in the east, by the Tethys Sea, while the global ocean known as Panthalassa (Greek for “all sea”) surrounded the land mass as a whole.  The creation of such a large land mass had profound effects on both the [|climate] and atmospheric circulation. Strongly differentiated climatic belts emerged. During the early existence of Pangaea, climatic conditions led to extensive glaciation in southern Gondwanaland. The deflection north of equatorial currents led to the development of warm, moist conditions in northern Laurasia, farther north than such a climate might be expected. At the same time hot, dry conditions prevailed over much of Laurussia and northern Gondwanaland. Climatic differentiation was reflected in the development of strong regional differences in early Pangaean plants and animals, with distinct forms associated with Gondwanaland and with Laurasia. Later in the Permian, and throughout the following [|Triassic Period] (251 to 200 million years ago), climates became milder as Pangaea moved northward. Source: []
 * //__Before Pangaea__//**
 * //__Formation of Pangaea__//**

**//__<span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Pangea/Supercontinent __//**<span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">

The supercontinent Pangaea works in reverse. We met the continents as solo artists. It wasn't until 1912 that meteorologist Alfred Wegener hypothesized that the seven continents had once been joined as a supercontinent. Wegener had noticed that the borders of the continent matched up and fit together, almost like a giant jigsaw puzzle. There were other clues as well -- matching rocks and [|fossils] <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> were found in countries separated by  [|oceans] <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">, and tropical plant fossils were found in polar regions (and vice versa), indicating that the continents might not have always been in their current positions.

Wegener called the supercontinent **Pangaea**, meaning "all lands" in Greek, and he said it was bordered by **Panthalassa**, the universal sea. He claimed the lands separated 250 million years ago by the process of **continental drift**, which means the continents just slowly fractured and went their separate ways. You might, if you were musically inclined, compare this action to the name of another British band, the Rolling Stones.

Source(s): [] <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> [] <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">


 * //__Gondwanaland__//**

One of the most enduring features of our planet, Gondwana (or Gondwanaland) was a composite continent, made up of South America, Africa, Madagascar, Antarctica, India, other parts of South Asia, and Australia. At one time it even included Florida and most of Southern Europe. Gondwanaland is named after the Upper Paleozoic and Mesozoic formations of the Gondwana district of central India, which display a number of shared geologic features (the "Gondwana beds"). In the late nineteenth century, on the basis of comparative geological evidence, the Austrian geologist, Edward Suess, suggested that the continents of Africa, [|South America] <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">, Australia and India were once part of a single supercontinent, which he called "Gondwanaland". Science tells us that the Continents of Australia, India, South America, Africa, and Antarctica, existed together as a separate landmass as long as 650 million years ago. And as these continents only began to break up some 130 million years ago, this great supercontinent had a life of around 520 million years; making it perhaps the most important geological structure of the last billion years.

Sources: [] <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> [] <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">


 * //__Laurasia__//**

Laurasia, the continental mass that during the [|Palaeozoic Era] <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> formed the northern part of the supercontinent called  [|Pangaea] <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">, and which included what was to become North America, Greenland, northern and central Europe, and most of Asia. Pangaea, derived from the Greek for “all land”, started to fragment in the late Palaeozoic, about 240 million years ago, into Laurasia in the north and [|Gondwana] <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> in the south. Gondwana was the precursor to most of present-day South America, Australia, Antarctica, and India.  Laurasia was named after the [|Laurentian Plateau] <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> of Canada by  [|Alfred Wegener] <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">, the German meteorologist, who in 1915 formulated the first coherent theory of  [|continental drift] <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">. Wegener’s ideas were largely rejected during his lifetime (he died in 1930), mainly because he could provide no acceptable mechanism by which the continents could move. During the past 50 years, palaeomagnetic studies (see [|palaeomagnetism] <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">) of the deep ocean floor have shown that lithospheric plates, hosting both continents and oceans, have moved through geological time in association with ocean-floor spreading from  [|mid-ocean ridges] <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">. Our knowledge of the patterns of plate movements is more conjectural beyond 200 million years ago, the age of the oldest oceanic lithosphere, but it is generally agreed that initially scattered continental masses gradually converged during the [|Permian Period] <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> at the end of the Palaeozoic, about 300 million years ago, to form a single supercontinent called Pangaea.  The assembly of Laurasia began at least 500 million years ago through the gradual merging of three main tectonic plates—the North American plate, the North European plate ( [|Baltica] <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">), and the Siberian plate—plus a number of minor plates (such as the Kazakhstan plate), and terranes. Terranes are island arcs or small lithospheric plates (microplates) thought to have broken away from larger plates and which subsequently became attached, or accreted, to another plate. They are distinguished today as regions that have a [|stratigraphy] <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> (stratification over time), structure, and geology fundamentally different from that of adjacent areas. Terranes are also associated with [|orogeny] <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">—the episodes of mountain-building that result from the compression that occurs when two areas of continental lithosphere collide. The complex geology of the margins of the continents that once made up Laurasia, most notably the [|Cordillera] <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> ranges of the western coast of North America, is due to the fact that they comprise a mosaic of microplates and island arcs that accreted during Laurasia’s formation and break-up.  About 300 million years ago, during the Permian period, Gondwana finally collided with southern Laurussia. The junction was in the area of what is now Italy, Greece, and the Balkans (at that time part of North Africa). At the same time, in the north, the Siberian plate collided with Laurussia, and the Kazakhstan plate collided with the Siberian plate. Two distinct palaeocontinents, Laurasia and Gondwana, were thus formed. Their formation initiated some of the most extensive mountain building the world has known, including the formation of the proto- [|Rocky Mountains] <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> and the  [|Urals] <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> (at the Laurussian-Siberian juncture). Other areas affected included south-west England, north-west mainland Europe, the [|Appalachians] <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">, and the  [|Andes] <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">. About 270 million years ago, during the Early Permian, the Cimmeria microplate, comprising Turkey, Iran, and Afghanistan, broke away from Gondwana, opening up the [|Tethys Sea] <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> between Laurasia and Gondwana. During the subsequent [|Triassic Period] <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">, Mexico collided with North America.  About 200 million years ago, during the Early [|Jurassic Period] <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">, Pangaea began to fracture, initially along the line of what became the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. As the break-up progressed, the Italian-Balkan and Iberian terranes were torn away from Gondwana and began moving north and east towards Laurasia. By the end of the Jurassic (about 142 million years ago) Gondwana had fully separated from Laurasia, leaving the [|Yucatán] <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> Peninsula behind. Turkey, Iran, and Afghanistan had collided with Laurasia, in the area of the former Baltic plate, initiating the Cimmerian orogeny. By 90 million years ago, in the Late [|Cretaceous Period] <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">, Eurasia began to drift away from North America, along the line of the eastern coast of Greenland, a process completed by the start of the  [|Cenozoic Era] <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">, about 65 million years ago. Greenland had also begun to separate from North America. These separations were a result of the North Atlantic opening up as seafloor spreading from the nascent mid-Atlantic ridge occurred. The Caribbean arc had also been created by this time, and Italy, the Balkans, including Greece, and Iberia were closing in on the southern margins of Europe. The accretion of these terranes was completed during the [|Eocene] <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> and  [|Oligocene] <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> Epochs (about 55 million to 24 million years ago), initiating the orogenies that created the  [|Pyrenees] <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">,  [|Alps] <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">, and  [|Carpathian] <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> mountains. Following the break-up of Pangaea, India had broken away from Antarctica and begun a journey across the expanding Pacific Ocean towards southern Asia. About 30 million years ago India finally collided, initiating the orogeny that has created the [|Himalaya] <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> ranges and the Tibetan plateau. By the beginning of the [|Miocene] <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> (about 23 million years ago), Greenland had completed its separation from North America, and Africa had collided with the Eurasian plate, opening up the  [|Red Sea] <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> and creating the  [|Mediterranean Sea] <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">. During the break-up, Laurasia was moving northward and also rotating towards the present alignment of the continents. This rotation was not uniform; it occurred at different speeds and in different directions, contributing to the break-up. <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> Throughout most of the period leading up to the creation of Laurasia, its component plates were lying across or relatively near to the equator and generally experienced tropical to warm climatic conditions. In contrast, parts of Gondwana experienced successive glaciations. During the [|Carboniferous Period] (354 to 290 million years ago), warm conditions resulted in the laying down of the large coal measures that characterize parts of North America, Europe, and Siberia. As the central Atlantic Ocean opened up, Laurasia rotated clockwise, sending North America northwards and Eurasia southwards. Coals deposited in eastern Asia during the Early Jurassic were succeeded by salt and other [|evaporite] deposits as Asia moved from the wet temperate belt to the dry subtropics. It was only following the break-up of Laurasia, as the newly delineated continents began moving north, that cooler conditions began to be felt, culminating in the [|ice age] of the [|Pleistocene Epoch].

Source: []

Graphic Organizer: Sequence Chart Checklist <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> **__<span style="font-size: 20pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Checklist for Comic Life __** <span style="font-size: 20pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 20pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 20pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">1.) ___ Graphic Organizer has been filled out <span style="font-size: 20pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 20pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">2.) ___ Shared ideas with class (Think-Pair-Share) <span style="font-size: 20pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 20pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">3.) ___ There are three different types (past to present super continents) of mapped out <span style="font-size: 20pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 20pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">4.) ___ Graphic Organizer has positive feedback on it <span style="font-size: 20pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 20pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">5.) ___ Students have a Comic Life <span style="font-size: 20pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 20pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">6.) ___ Photographs of mapped super continents <span style="font-size: 20pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 20pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">7.) ___ Comic Life is colorful, organized, grammatically correct, handed in on time, and finished. <span style="font-size: 20pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 20pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">8.) ___ Blog entries were maintained <span style="font-size: 20pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 20pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">9.) ___ Now give yourself a pat on the back! Great job! <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">
 * Handouts**
 * <span style="font-size: 20pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">~*You Must Complete the Following*~ **