Lab+'Piecing+Together+Pangaea'

 =**__Activity 12-1C__** =

Procedure: To see how the continents fit together before Pangaea broke apart.


 * Materials: **
 * photocopy of continents
 * scissors
 * 21.5 cm x 28 cm sheet of paper
 * glue

**Procedure:** See pg. 515


 * Data:** See map


 * Analyze: **
 * 1) Africa and South America were the easiest to fit together because their shapes were very distinct. You could tell they matched each other. Also, the fossils and glacial deposits fit perfectly together.
 * 2) The fossils, as you could tell with the connecting of South America, Africa, Madagascar, India, Antarctica, and Australia.
 * 3) a) I found that Greenland and Europe were hard to place.


 * Conclude and Apply: **
 * 1) a) First, I joined the 2 most obvious (South America and Africa). Then I used the fossils to figure out where to place Madagascar, India, Antarctica, and Australia. I then used the dotted lines to match North America and South America. Finally, I used the matching folded mountains and the continental shape to place Europe and then Greenland.
 * 2) I used several pieces of evidence to make sure that the country/continent was placed in the right place. It is always better to have more than one reference. Also, in some parts of the super-continent, there weren't the same characterists like fossils. However, maybe there were the same mountain ranges. Therefore, I had to use more than one piece of evidence.
 * 3) a) Another super-continent may be created - North America will move to join Asia and South America, Australia, and Antarctica may join.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Conclusion:**

With this experiment, I understood the approximate appearance of Pangaea and I learnt that some regions share the same characteristics. For example, southern Africa, South America, Madagascar, southern India, Antarctica, and Australia all had the same fossils. Also, rocks found in western Europe are the same as those in Greenland. Therefore, I learnt that fossils, glacial deposits, mountain ranges, and coal deposits are key factors in finding out where the continents were placed. They were the factors that Alfred Wegener used to discover what Pangaea looked like. Finally, I learnt that in 200 million years, the place of our continents will change which will cause changes in climate and our ecosystem.