• understand the history of the theory of plate tectonics
• explain and illustrate the basic concepts of plate tectonics

• Visual learners: diagrams showing sea-floor spreading and plate convergence
• Auditory learners: recounts the story of Wegener’s life and how he postulated his theory of continental drift
• Kinesthetic learners: create a model of Pangaea and trace diagrams showing plate convergence

•  Tell students the story of Alfred Wegener’s life.  Describe the following information to students:
  • how a scientific paper that uncovered fossil records of the same plants and animals on different sides of the Atlantic sparked his theory of Pangaea and continental drift
  • his ideas were rejected by his colleagues

• Distribute a handout with a map of the world and ask students to cut them out and tape them together to create a Pangaea.
• Ask them to share their creations. How would Pangaea have looked? Do they believe that Pangaea existed at one time?

• Tell students that the mapping of the ocean floor in the 1960s revived Wegener’s ideas and led to the theory of continental drift.
• On a white board (or chalk board), write and define the vocabulary terms: sea-floor spreading, oceanic plates, and continental plates.
• Using a projector, a handout or the white board, show an illustration of the process sea-floor spreading.* Point out the ridges and the trenches in the ocean floor and ask students to analyze the diagram and explain how they think sea-floor spreading occurs.
• On a white board (or chalk board), write and define the vocabulary terms: plate convergence, plate divergence, subduction, and transform vault.

• Distribute a trace paper, pencils, and a handout illustrating the three types of convergences: oceanic-oceanic; oceanic-continental; continental-continental. Make sure the diagrams have arrows to illustrate the movement of the plates.
• Ask students to trace the diagrams and to label them.
• When they have finished, pair students and ask them to explain each of the diagrams. Pair up ELL students with English-proficient students.
• Ask pairs of students to share their explanations. Use leading questions to help students understand the movement of the plate and the geological consequences.

• Ask students to cut and paste their diagrams into their science journals and write a sentence or two describing each diagram.

• Have students assemble or suggest objects for a shoe box containing objects in memory of Wegener. If students do not mention them, you might suggest adding a photo of Wegener, fossils, a compass, and an illustration of Pangaea.
• Applied Learning:  Have students choose among the following projects: research the origins of well-known geological structures such as the Himalayas and the Dead Sea; research why the scientific community initially rejected Wegener’s ideas; research developments, such as the discovery of the mid-Atlantic ridge, that led to the acceptance of the theory.

These resources are readily available online. You may find them at these Web sites: