Materials

• Table 7.5.
• Fig. 7.19
• Scissors
• Colored pencils or crayons
• Construction paper
• Glue or gluestick
• World map (optional)

Procedure

A. Evaluate and interpret the available evidence.

1. Carefully read each piece of evidence listed in Table 7.5.
    
2. Discuss each piece of evidence with your group.
   
   1. Evaluate the quality of the evidence by ranking each statement on a scale of 1–5 in the “quality” column of Table 7.5:
      
      1. 1 = “low quality” evidence that does not support the idea of continental drift
      2. 5 = “high quality” evidence that is very supportive of the idea of continental drift.
   2. Explain the reasoning for your ranking in the “interpretation” column of Table 7.5.

B. Map the evidence.

1. Use scissors to cut out all continent pieces from Fig. 7.19.
    
2. Place the continent pieces in their modern day relative positions. You may lay these continent pieces over a modern world map if needed.
    
3. Glacial striations are deep grooves gouged into rock formations by moving or spreading glaciers or ice sheets.
   
   1. Find regions where ancient glacial striations have been discovered, as indicated on Fig. 7.19 with the symbol “=”.
   2. Color these regions yellow.
       
4. Fossils of the fern plant Glossopteris can be found within the distinct Gondwana rock sequence (Table 7.5; Fig. 7.20 C).
   
   1. Find regions where Glossopteris plant fossils have been discovered, as indicated on Fig. 7.19 with symbol G.
   2. Color these regions green.
       
5. Fossils of the aquatic reptile Mesosaurus can be found within the distinct Gondwana rock sequence (Table 7.5; Fig. 7.20 A).
   
   1. Find regions where Mesosaurus fossils have been discovered, as indicated on Fig. 7.19 with symbol M.
   2. Color these regions blue.
       
6. Fossils of the aquatic reptile Cynognathus can be found within the distinct Gondwana rock sequence (Table 7.5; Fig. 7.20 B).
   
   1. Find regions where Cynognathus fossils have been discovered, as indicated on Fig. 7.19 with symbol C.
   2. Color these regions orange.
       
7. Fossils of the aquatic reptile Lystrosaurus can be found within the distinct Gondwana rock sequence (Table 7.5; Fig. 7.20 D).
   
   1. Find regions where Lystrosaurus fossils have been discovered, as indicated on Fig. 7.19 with symbol L.
   2. Color these regions brown.
       
8. Present-day earthworm species within the family Megascolecidae have a limited geographic distribution (Table 7.5).
   
   1. Find regions where present-day megascolecid earthworms occur, as indicated on Fig. 7.19 with symbol E.
   2. Color these regions red.

9. Try to fit all the continent pieces together so that the continental edges match. Try to also make the colored evidence regions match.
    
10. Compare your arrangement of matched continents to that of your classmates.
     
11. Discuss the role of each piece of evidence in the arrangement of your supercontinent.
     
12. After coming to an agreement on the arrangement of your single supercontinent, glue the pieces to a sheet of construction paper.