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10
SCIENCE
QUARTER 1
Week 6

Capsulized Self-Learning Empowerment

Toolkit

Schools Division Office of Zamboanga City

Region IX, Zamboanga Peninsula
Zamboanga City

“Unido, Junto avanza con el EduKalidad Cree, junto junto puede!”

WRITTEN BY: RICHARD G. CHIO, Teacher III,

ZCHS (Main)
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SUBJECT & Science

QUARTER 1 WEEK 6 DAY ____________________________________
GRADE/LEVEL 10 dd/mm/yyyy

TOPIC The Continental Drift Theory

8. Discuss how the Continental Drift Theory was developed.
LEARNING
9. Simulate and describe the seafloor spreading process.
COMPETENCY
(S10ES-Ia-j-36.5)
IMPORTANT: Do not write anything on this material. Write your answers on the Learner’s
Activity and Assessment Sheets provided separately.

UNDERSTAND
What is a Continental Drift Theory?
Continental Drift Theory is a theory proposed by Alfred Wegener, a German
meteorologist which states that all continents are once joined together to form a
supercontinent called PANGAEA. This supercontinent started to break into smaller continents
and was separated and drifted apart since then.
Pangaea is a Greek word that means “Entire Earth” or “All Land”.

PANGAEA
Present
(250 million years ago)

Alfred Wegener spent much of his adult life vigorously defending his theory of
continental drift, which was severely attacked from the start and never gained acceptance in
his lifetime. He searched and presented pieces of evidence to the scientific community to
support/prove his theory. Despite the pieces of evidence: Continental Jigsaw Puzzle,
Plant and Animal Fossil, Coal Deposits, and Rock formation, his theory was not
accepted by the scientific community. Despite overwhelming criticism from most leading
geologists, who regarded him as a mere meteorologist and outsider meddling in their field,
Wegener did not back down but worked even harder to strengthen his theory. Nevertheless,
many of Wegener's ideas served as the catalyst and framework for the development of the
WRITTEN BY: RICHARD G. CHIO, Teacher III,
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theory of plate tectonics three decades later. But still, Alfred Wegener could not explain what
force drives the continents to move. The Origin of the Continents and Oceans is the title
of the book published by Wegener in 1915.

Now, let’s take How did the Continental Drift Theory develop?
a look at how
the theory was
developed. A Walk-through Time

ABRAHAM ORTELIUS (1596)

He was the first person to put forward the theory of how the
continents once were connected. He thought that this happened
because of flooding and earthquakes. He was also the first person to
draw a modern map.

THEODOR CHRISTOPH, ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT,

FRANKLIN COXWORTHY (1756)
Had similar ideas about how once Europe, Americas, Africa, and other
places once fitted together like a jigsaw puzzle.
JAMES HUTTON(1795)
He worked to help establish modern geology. He had theories that the
plates moved because of heat under the ocean.

ANTONIO SNIDER-PELLEGRINI(1858)
He also theorized about the possibility of the continental drift. He
believed that they are once one continent, with one name: Pangaea.
He authored a book called Creation and its Mysteries Unveiled.

ROBERTO MANTOVANI(1858)
He published two theories about continental drift and the expansion of
the earth. He believed that there was once one continent but on a
smaller Earth. He then believed that the continent broke apart into
smaller continents, this happened because of thermal expansion.

WILLIAM HENRY PICKERING (1907)

He was an American astronomer. He had a continental drift theory that
the moon was once a part of the Earth but then broke off, it was
connected to where the Pacific Ocean now lies. He also proposed that
because of the moon breaking off America, Africa, Asia, and Europe
once formed a supercontinent.

FRANK BURSLEY TAYLOR(1908)

He proposed that continental drift once happened. He believed that the
continental drift happened without expansion. He suggested that the
continents were dragged towards the equator because of increased
Luna gravity during cretaceous, thus forming the Himalayas and Alps
on the southern faces

ALFRED WEGENER (1912)

He was the first person to openly come up with the theory. He studied
previous people's theory about continental drift and came up with his
own. He noticed that the different landmasses fit together like a jigsaw.

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What are the evidences that support his theory?

Alfred Wegener searched for evidences to support / prove his theory.

EVIDENCES OF CONTINENTAL DRIFT THEORY

Evidence 1: The Continental Jigsaw Puzzle

The edge of one continent Africa

South America
surprisingly fits the edge of
another continent like a piece of
a puzzle.

Eastern part of South America Fits on the western part of Africa

These pieces of evidence #1 and #2 are instrumental in the development of the Continental
Drift Theory.
Evidence 2: Plant and Animal Fossils

Fossils are preserved remains or traces of

organisms (plants and animals) from the remote
past. Fossilized leaves of an extinct tropical plant
Glossopteris and freshwater reptiles Mesosaurus
and Lystosaurus were found in 250 million years old Glossopteris
rocks. These fossils were located in continents of
South Africa, Australia, India, and Antarctica, which
are now separated from each other by wide oceans.

Mesosaurus
Evidence 3: Ancient climate and Coal Deposits
Wegener heard of evidence for a glacial period dated to
the late Paleozoic had been discovered in South Africa,
South America, Antarctica, Australia, and India. This
means that most areas in the Southern Hemisphere were
covered with ice sheets. But most of the areas where
Paleozoic glaciation is found have subtropical and
tropical climates. This made researchers wonder how
extensive ice sheets were formed near the equator.
Coal beds were formed from the compaction and
decomposition of swamp plants that lived a million years Coal beds
ago. These were discovered in South America, Africa,
India, Southeast Asia, and even in Antarctica.

Evidence 4: Rock Formation

Rock formations in Africa
line up with that in South America
as if it was a long mountain range.
Similar layers of rocks were
formed in Antarctica, South
America, Africa, Australia, and
India.

WRITTEN BY: RICHARD G. CHIO, Teacher III,

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SAQ-1: If you lived during Wegener’s time, will you believe that the continents are once joined
together based on the pieces of evidence that he gathered? Support your answer.
SAQ-2: Why did scientists reject Wegener’s Theory of Continental Drift hypothesis?

Alfred Lothar Wegener died on a meteorological expedition to

Greenland during winter. His body was frozen in ice in search of
evidence to further prove his theory.

(Write your Answer on the separate Learner’s

Let’s Practice! #1
Activity and Assessment sheets provided.)

Let’s Fit it!

Objectives:
• Find clues to solve a problem;
• Explain how the Continental Drift Theory was developed.

Materials:
• Old newspaper or magazine
• Scotch tape

Procedure:
1. Get a page of an old newspaper or magazine.
2. Let one of your family member to tear/cut the newspaper/magazine into smaller
pieces ( 10 to 15 parts) in random shape.
3. Then try to fit the pieces together.
4. Use tape to connect the pieces.

Guide Questions:
1. What features of the newspaper or magazine helped you to connect the pieces
perfectly?
2. How do the lines of prints or text in the newspaper/magazine help you to confirm that
you have reassembled the newspaper/magazine page?
3. Show proof that the newspaper/magazine is perfectly reassembled.
4. How does this activity relate to the development of the Continental Drift Theory?

The Seafloor Spreading Theory

What is a Seafloor Spreading Theory?

Seafloor Spreading Theory - a theory which states that oceanic crust forms along
submarine mountain zones, known collectively as the mid-ocean ridge system, and
spreads out sideways away from them.

Seafloor Spreading - is a process that occurs at mid-ocean ridges, where new

oceanic crust is formed through volcanic activity and then gradually moves away
from the ridge.

WRITTEN BY: RICHARD G. CHIO, Teacher III,

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The Seafloor Spreading Process

(3) Magma flows out of the (2) These materials flow sideways
crack, cools down and carrying the seafloor away from the
becomes the new seafloor. ridge and create a crack in the crust.

(1) Hot, less dense material (4) As the new seafloor is formed at
from below the earth’s crust the mid-ocean ridge, the old seafloor
rises towards the surface at the farthest from the ridge is destroyed at
mid-ocean ridge. the subduction zone.

SAQ-3: Why does the old seafloor farthest from the ridge sink beneath the continental crust at
the subduction zone?
SAQ-4: Why does the seafloor near the ridge be younger than those far from the ridge?

(Write your Answer on the separate Learner’s

Let’s Practice! #2 Activity and Assessment sheets provided.)

Split and Separate!

Objectives:
• Simulate and describe the seafloor spreading process.
Materials:
• Bond paper
• Board paper
• Colored pencil
• Pair of scissors
• Ruler
Procedure: Figure 1
1. Using a colored pencil, draw stripes across one sheet of bond paper
parallel to the short sides of the paper. The stripes should vary in spacing
and thickness.
2. Fold the bond paper in half lengthwise.
3. Write the word “start” at the top of both halves of the paper. It should
look like figure 1.
4. Cut the bond paper in half along the dashed line to form two strips.
5. Take the board paper and make three(3) 11-cm long slits as indicated
in figure 2.
6. The two slits near the edges of the bond paper should be both 11-cm
from the center slit.
7. Put the two striped strips of paper together so that the “start” labels
touch one another. Figure 2

WRITTEN BY: RICHARD G. CHIO, Teacher III,

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8. Insert the strips up through the center slit, then pull them toward the side slits.
9. Insert the ends of the strips into the side slits. Pull the ends of the strips as shown in
figure 3 below and watch what happens at the center slit.

Figure 3

10. Practice pulling the strips through the slits until you can make the stripes come up and
go down at the same time.
Guide Questions:
1. What do the stripes in the paper represent?
2. What does the middle slit represent? What occurs in this region?
3. What is the role of the mid-ocean ridge in the movement of lithospheric plates?
4. How does the new seafloor form at the mid-ocean ridge?
5. What process happens at the side slits?

REMEMBER
Key Points

✓ The Continental Drift Theory: All continents are once joined together to form a
supercontinent called PANGAEA. This supercontinent started to break into smaller
continents and was separated and drifted apart.
✓ Pangaea is a Greek word that means “Entire Earth” or “All Land”.

✓ The continental Drift Theory was developed because of the ideas/contributions of

several scientists.
✓ The Theory of Continental Drift was first publicly proposed by Alfred Lothar
Wegener in 1912.

✓ Seafloor Spreading Theory - a theory which states that oceanic crust forms along
submarine mountain zones, known collectively as the mid-ocean ridge system, and
spreads out sideways away from them.
✓ Seafloor Spreading - is a process that occurs at mid-ocean ridges, where new
oceanic crust is formed through volcanic activity and then gradually moves away from
the ridge.

✓ Four Major steps/processes in Seafloor Spreading:

1. Hot, less dense material from below the earth’s crust rises towards the surface at
the mid-ocean ridge.
2. These materials flow sideways carrying the seafloor away from the ridge and
create a crack in the crust.
3. Magma flows out of the crack, cools down, and becomes the new seafloor.
4. As the new seafloor is formed at the mid-ocean ridge, the old seafloor farthest from
the ridge is destroyed at the subduction zone.

WRITTEN BY: RICHARD G. CHIO, Teacher III,

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TRY
Let’s see how much have you learned today!
Directions: Encircle the letter of the correct answer.
(Write your Answer on the separate Learner’s Activity and Assessment sheets
provided.)
7. What was one reason that Wegener's
1. The supercontinent from Wegener's hypothesis of continental drift was rejected?
theory of continental drift is called a. He could not explain what was moving
__________. the continents.
a. Gondwanaland b. He could not support the idea that
b. Laurasia climates of certain landmasses had been
c. Pangaea different
d. North America c. He could not explain where the continents
2. What evidence did Wegener use to had moved.
estimate the time of Pangaea's break up? d. He could not support that the continents
a. magnetic isochrons were once adjacent.
b. fossil data 8. Which of the following is considered to be
c. ocean floor topography the most visible and fascinating evidence on
d. Coal deposits how the continental drift theory was
3. Which type of information was NOT developed
collected by Wegener to support his a. Coal deposits
continental drift hypothesis? b. Rock formation
a. rocks c. The shape of the continents’ edges
b. fossils d. Fossils
c. seafloor magnetic data 9. As a new seafloor is formed at the ridge,
d. coal deposits the old seafloor farthest from the ridge is
4. Which of the following BEST explains how destroyed. Which of the stated processes
the Continental Drift Theory was conceived? describes how the oceanic crust plunges into
a. The theory was developed just to satisfy the earth and destroyed at the mantle?
the curiosity of several scientists. a. Convection c. Diversion
b. The theory was developed due to b. Construction d. Subduction
observable facts like the movements of 10. Which of the following BEST describe the
continents. seafloor spreading process?
c. The theory was developed due to the a. Hot magma fueled by mantle convection
many pieces of evidence that support/prove bubbles up to fill these fractures and spills
that the continents are moving. onto the crust. This bubbled-up magma is
d. The theory was developed by Wegener to cooled by frigid seawater to form igneous
impress his fiancé’s father who is a rock.
geologist. b. Seafloor spreading occurs at divergent
5. Why did Wegener think that the Antarctic plate boundaries. As tectonic plates slowly
continent had been closer to the equator in move towards each other, heat from the
the geologic past? mantle’s convection currents makes the crust
a. evidence of fossil fish more plastic and denser.
b. existence of volcanic rocks c. Magma comes out of the ridge, cools to
c. existence of coal beds rock, and hardens. Old rock is pushed away
d. existence of the Transantarctic as a new rock is formed at the ridge. The old
Mountains seafloor farthest from the ridge is destroyed in
6. What is the name of Alfred Wegener's the subduction zone.
hypothesis about moving landmasses? d. Hot, less dense material rises towards the
a. continental movement mid-ocean ridge. It then flows out of the
b. seafloor spreading fractured rocks, cools down and becomes the
c. continental drift new seafloor. This new seafloor pushes the
d. plate tectonics old seafloor away from the ridge and
eventually undergoes subduction.

WRITTEN BY: RICHARD G. CHIO, Teacher III,

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11. Arrange the following events to correctly 12. In the simulation activity: Split and
describe the processes in seafloor spreading. Separate, what do the stripes in the paper
I. Gravity pulls rock towards the mantle. represent?
II. Magma comes out of the mid-ocean ridge. a. The stripes represent the seafloor of
III. Oceanic crust and continental crust meet different ages formed as a result of seafloor
at the trench. spreading.
IV. Rock melts in the mantle b. The stripes represent the new seafloor
V. Oceanic crust bends down under the formed during the divergent process.
continental crust c. The stripes represent seafloor of the same
VI. Magma cools to rock and hardens. density but of different ages.
VII. Rock is pushed away as a new rock is d. The stripes indicate that the oceanic crust
formed at the mid-ocean ridge. is spreading.
a. II, IV, I, VII, V, VI, III
b. II, VI, VII, III, V, I, IV
c. IV, I, V, III, VII, VI, II
d. IV, II, VI, V, III, VII, I

Acosta, Herma D, Liza A Alvarez, Dave G. Angeles, Ruby D Arre, Ma.

Pilar P Carmona, Aurelia S Garca, Arlen Gatpo, et al. Essay. In
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“A Model of Seafloor Spreading.”

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“Alfred Wegener: Building a Case for Continental Drift.” Alfred Wegener

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“Continental Drift: Theory & Definition.” LiveScience. Purch,

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Fossil Mall Glossopteris Fossil from Antarctica.

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recent.html.

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https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/Plate-Tectonics/Chap1-Pioneers-of-
Plate-Tectonics/Alfred-Wegener/Fossil-Evidence-from-the-
Southern-Hemisphere.

“Hot Less Dense Material below the Earths Crust Rises toward the Surface at
the: Course Hero.” Hot less dense material below the Earths crust rises
toward the surface at the | Course Hero, October 10, 2016.
WRITTEN BY: RICHARD G. CHIO, Teacher III,
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https://www.coursehero.com/file/p3qttcr/Hot-less-dense-material-below-
the-Earths-crust-rises-toward-the-surface-at-the/.

Murphy, J. Brendan, and Tjeerd H. van Andel. “Development of Tectonic

Theory.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc.,
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tectonics/Development-of-tectonic-theory.

National Geographic Society. “Continental Drift.” National Geographic

Society, October 9, 2012.
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drift/.

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Accessed July 05, 2020.
https://www.thinglink.com/scene/891759050889363457
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WRITTEN BY: RICHARD G. CHIO, Teacher III,

ZCHS (Main)