Most think of the Earth's land masses as being solid and immovable. We now know this is not true, as the land masses on earth are constantly moving and shifting. The idea that continents have been moving about for billions of years is known as the theory of Continental Drift. The reason continents move or drift is because they are parts of huge land plates that form the Earth's outer crust. The first comprehensive theory of continental drift was suggested by the German meteorologist Alfred Wegener in 1912. The hypothesis asserts that the continents consist of lighter rocks that rest on heavier crustal material—similar to the manner in which icebergs float on water.

1.	Creeping more slowly than a human fingernail grows, Earth's massive continents are nonetheless on the move. Now this is really moving at a snail's pace! http://www.firstscience.com/site/articles/continents.asp
2.	Would you like to see how the Earth's land masses were positioned during different time periods? Where do you think South America was positioned during the Paleozoic Period? http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/geology/anim1.html
3.	What is the Plate Tectonics Theory? Does this mean that the earth is like large dinner plates? How did the seven continents actually form?  http://www.bartleby.com/65/co/contin-dr.html
4.	The Earth's surface is constantly moving and reforming, but so slowly that you or I can't observe it ourselves. Only by taking very small measurements over a long period of time can scientists tell something is happening. http://kids.earth.nasa.gov/archive/pangaea/
5.	Scientists now have a fairly good understanding of how the plates move and how such movements relate to earthquake activity. Most movement occurs along narrow zones between plates where the results of plate tectonic forces are most evident. http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/text/understanding.html
6.	The continents look as if they were pieces of a giant jigsaw puzzle that could fit together to make one giant super continent. The bulge of Africa fits the shape of the coast of North America while Brazil fits along the coast of Africa beneath the bulge. http://kids.mtpe.hq.nasa.gov/archive/pangaea/evidence.html
7.	According to the theory of continental drift, the world was made up of a single continent through most of geologic time. That continent eventually separated and drifted apart, forming into the seven continents we have today.  http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001765.html
8.	Glacial sediments were found in sub-tropical areas. Coal seams and sedimentary rock formations on one continent matched those on another. Mountain ranges that ended at one coastline seemed to begin again on another. What might this prove? http://www.harborside.com/~ssnerr/tecton.htm
9.	In geologic terms, a plate is a large, rigid slab of solid rock. The word tectonics comes from the Greek root "to build." Putting these two words together, we get the term plate tectonics, which refers to how the Earth's surface is built of plates.  http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/text/historical.html
10.	This is a great site! The PALEOMAP Project illustrates the plate tectonic development of the ocean basins and continents, as well as the changing distribution of land and sea during the past 1100 million years. http://www.scotese.com/

2.    16 Topic: Research
Standard: Uses technology and telecommunications tools to locate, analyze, synthesize, evaluate, apply, and communicate information.

2.   16    Topic: Research
Standard: Uses technology and telecommunications tools to locate, analyze, synthesize, evaluate, apply, and communicate information.

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Dr. Diane Judd

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