Far Flung Fossils – Today you will be looking at the same fossil evidence that Alfred Wegener used to prove his theory of
Continental Drift. There are four sets of “continents” in your group’s packet. Each set is color coded to show what fossils were
present where at that point in Earth’s history.
Using those pieces answer the following questions on your own sheet of paper.
Red Rock – 300 MILLION YEARS AGO
1. On the basis of what you found in the red rocks, which continents had similar fossils?
2. From this fossil evidence, which continents seem to have been connected 300 million years ago?
3. Look at the diagram below. The arrows represent grooves in the rock. The grooves were carved by advancing continental
glaciers about 300 million years ago. The arrows point in the direction the glaciers were moving. Suppose you were the first
person to have found the glacial grooves in south - eastern South America. From where would it seem the glacier came from?
Explain your answer.
4.
5.
6.
7.
What is the climate in India like today?
Why would a geologist be puzzles if she found evidence of glacial grooves in India?
How might the idea of continental drift explain 300 million year old glacial grooves on four separate southern continents?
Based on these fossils make an illustration of what the Earth’s continents looked like 300 million years ago.
Yellow Rocks – 200 MILLION YEARS AGO
1. On the basis of what you found in the yellow rocks, which continents had similar fossils?
2. From this fossil evidence, which continents seem to have been connected 200 million years ago?
3. Make an illustration of what the Earth’s continents looked like 200 million years ago.
Green Rocks – 100 MILLION YEARS AGO
1. On the basis of what you found in the green rocks, which continents had similar fossils?
2. From this fossil evidence, which continents seem to have been connected 100 million years ago?
3. Make an illustration of what the Earth’s continents looked like 100 million years ago.
Blue Rocks – Modern Day
1. On the basis of what you found in the blue rocks, which continents had similar fossils?
2. From this fossil evidence, which continents seem to be connected in modern day?
3. Make an illustration of what present day continents look like.
Extension Question:
Examine the mammals pictured on the continents of South America, Africa, India, and Australia. These living animals are
native on their continents. Each eats insects, and is a major ant/termite eater among all the mammals there. Each species
belongs to a different order of mammals. These four mammals are very distantly related, even though each is highly
specialized for eating ant and/or termites. Explain in terms of continental drift how four very different kinds of ant/termite
eaters could occur in India, Africa, South America, and Australia.