United Streaming Video presents:
Name ______________________________ Hr_________
Continents Adrift: An Introduction to Continental Drift and Plate Tectonics
Earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountains have a shared origin and serve to remind us that our planet is
constantly changing. This program begins with the long, widely known observation that some continents
seem to fit together like puzzle pieces. In the early 1900’s, German scientist Alfred Wegener offered a
theory that continents can move, called “continental drift”. The video explores the idea that the earth’s
shell is broken into plates that move (plate tectonics) and examines the causes of landmass splitting.
Video Questions
1.
2:20 What additional evidence did Alfred Wegener offer to support his theory of continental drift?
(besides the puzzle-like fit of the continents)
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2. 3:45 What evidence did exploration of the ocean floor reveal to further support Wegener’s theory?
(What’s down there?)
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3. 9:45 How does the movement of tectonic plates (plate tectonics) actually occur?
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4. 10:00 What are the three types of tectonic plate boundaries?
What happens at these boundaries and what changes in the surface might each of these cause?
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5. Discuss the differences between the formation of volcanoes making the Hawaiian Islands with those
bordering the Pacific plate in the “Ring of Fire”.
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RoF-________________________________________________________________