Teaching Tools- Kindergarten through 8th Grade

Continental Drift for 2nd Grade
Jessica Denson
Stony Brook University

Objectives:

1. Students will be able to explain why the continents have separated and are still moving.
2. Students will construct a model to display their understanding of continental drift.
3. Students will be able to answer questions orally about Pangaea.

Day One

Materials: Map of the continents, Text: Planet Earth/Inside Out by Gail Gibbons, chart paper, markers.

Lesson:

1. Vocabulary: Continents, drift, Pangaea. Discuss each word before reading the text.
2. Generate questions about our planet. Start a KWL chart-what do the students already know?
3. Read Planet Earth/Inside Out by Gail Gibbons.
4. After reading the story, go back to the section on continental drift. Ask the following questions: How do you think the big landform separated? What part does the ocean play in the separation? Do you think our continent will ever bump into another continent? Why? Was there life on Earth when the continents were one large landform?
5. Complete KWL chart with information the students learned from the story.

Writing:
What do you think life was like on earth millions of years ago during Pangaea?
Students will share ideas with the class.

Assessment:
Can students generate questions about the earth?
Can students write about the earth millions of years ago?

Day 2

Purpose:
Students will be able to understand that the Earth has been through many changes.
Students will be able to understand that the Earth is still changing and that our continents are slowly moving.

Materials:
Handout – 7 continents (outline of each continent) scissors, crayons, construction paper, informational chart, computer, foam cut-outs of continents

Lesson:

1. Review information learned the previous day about continental drift. Explain that we will be looking at Pangaea and how it started to split.
2. On classroom computers (having Internet access) go to the following site- www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/earth/Continents.shtml Explain to students that this site will show them how the continents moved.
3. Next, discuss how the continents look like pieces of a puzzle. Which continents look like they fit together?
4. Show chart (prepared ahead of time) containing the following information:
   -The continents are moving, but very slowly-it has taken millions of years for them to reach where they are today.
   -They began as one big mass of land called Pangaea. About 200 million years ago it started to break up.
   -About 120 million years ago, there were two continents: Laurasia and Gondwanaland.
   -Laurasia broke up into North America, Europe, and Asia.
   -Gondwanaland broke up into Africa, South America, Antarctica, Australia, and India.
   
5. Use the chart to explain the movement of the continents and allow students to watch the computer animation.
6. Students will be broken up into groups of 4 and given handouts of the continents. They will be instructed to color and cut them out very carefully. Tell the students: we will be creating Pangaea today.
7. Give each group a piece of construction paper and ask them to place the continents on the paper to fit the pieces of the puzzle as close as possible.
8. Students will then glue the pieces in place and share with their classmates.
9. At the social studies center, students will be able to use foam cutouts of continents to form Pangaea.

Assessment:
Were students able to understand how the continents were once a landform called Pangaea?
Were they able to complete the art assignment?

Extension:
After discussing Pangaea, we will discuss life on Earth millions of years ago. Discuss dinosaurs and fossils to explain how the same species have been found all over the world.

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