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1. The Moving Earth:
A Giant Puzzle
-Plate Tectonics-

2. • Did you know the ground beneath your
feet is on the move?
• Huge pieces of Earth's crust called tectonic
plates are slowly shifting all the time.
• Over millions of years, this movement has
shaped continents, mountains, and oceans!
Let’s explore the evidence that proves our
planet is anything but still!
Wait... The Earth Moves?!

3. If we could reverse time by millions of
years, all the continents would come
together to form one giant landmass!
This massive supercontinent was
called Pangaea (pronounced pan-jee-
uh).
A Supercontinent Called
Pangaea

4. Earth: A giant puzzle
Scientists believe Pangaea broke apart 200
million years ago as the Earth’s plates moved.
Slowly, over millions of years. the the
continents drifted to where we see them
today.

5. What is the evidence?
distribution of fossils
contentant shapes
sea floor spreading
Scientists study three
clues that help us
understand how
continents have moved
over many years.

6. Have you ever noticed that the
coastlines of continents like
South America and Africa fit
together like puzzle pieces?
The idea that continents might
once have been joined together
was first inspired by their
shapes.
Shape of the Continents

7. Similar fossils are found on
continents now separated by
oceans.
For example: Fossils of the reptile
Mesosaurus are found in both South
America and Africa.
These animals lived in one
population on Pangaea before the
continents broke apart.
Fossil Evidence

8. Mountain ranges and rock layers on
different continents often match up
like puzzle pieces.
For example: The Appalachian
Mountains in North America line up
with the Caledonian Mountains in
Scotland.
These matches are clues that the
continents were once joined together!
Matching Mountains

9. As the seafloor spreads, it moves the
tectonic plates — and that’s what causes
continents to drift apart!
• Mid-ocean ridges are underwater
mountain ranges where new crust
forms.
• Hot magma rises, cools, and becomes
solid rock — this pushes older crust
away.
• This process is called seafloor
spreading.
Seafloor Spreading

10. Fossils, rocks, continent shapes, and seafloor
data give a complete picture.
They all point to a dynamic Earth with moving
plates over millions of years. These clues
support the theory of plate tectonics!
A Giant Puzzle Solved

11. Do you have any
QUESTIONS?