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Examining the relationship between the Earth's interior and exterior systems is a key part of understanding how the Earth has developed over its history. In Unit 2, students will begin to make these connections as they gather evidence to develop a model of the Earth's interior, its internal processes, and resulting continental plate movements.

If the continents moved over time, how an why could this have occurred? What can we investigate further that might provide clues about how and why the continents moved?

Alfred Wegener thought that the jigsaw puzzle appearance of continents,  as well as identical fossils and geographic formations, could be explained by the existence of a supercontinent in the ancient past that split apart over time. His theory, continental drift, was widely rejected and ridiculed because he could not explain how and why the massive continents could have moved. Additionally, Wegener also predicted that volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and mountain building could be explained by the continents moving.

In this unit, your task is to conduct investigations and collect evidence that will uncover the mystery of how and why the continents could have moved. Be sure to consider Wegener’s prediction that continental movement is associated with volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and mountain building. 

This resource includes teacher guidelines, student handouts, and a slide presentation for a revised version of the Explore 2 and Explain 2 phases from the What’s Inside the Earth? 5E from New Visions Unit #2 in Earth Science.