Lead your class in exploring their local communities as well as the general environment. As they determine continental distributions by investigating minerals, rocks, and fossils located in their local region, pupils construct a continental map of the past and compare it to that of the present day to calculate the average yearly rate of motion. They conclude the activity by predicting today's average community motions and discussing past motions over the course of 250 million years.

Concepts

properties of rocks, mineral properties, plate tectonics, continental drift

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Additional Tags

science

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Instructional Ideas

• Provide videos of changes in the earth's environment over the course of history to use as part of the discussion
• Have pupils research past changes and predict future changes that could possibly take place in the local environment

Classroom Considerations

• Ensure everyone has a thorough understanding of the information discussed in this lesson to properly conduct calculations and activities included

• This resource is only available on an unencrypted HTTP website.It should be fine for general use, but don’t use it to share any personally identifiable information

Pros

• Includes a thorough explanation of historical geographical changes in our world
• Allows for modification and differentiated instruction if needed

Cons

• Document permissions do not allow for printing