Continents That Drift ReadWorks

Who came up with the idea about Earth's continents in the early 1900s?

• Alfred Wegener

• Charles Darwin

• Isaac Newton

• Albert Einstein

What did Alfred Wegener conclude about the continents?

• They were once part of a single landmass

• They are made of water

• They are floating in the sky

• They were always separate

What type of rock is the ocean bottom mostly made of?

• Granite

• Sandstone

• Basalt

• Limestone

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NGSS.MS-ESS2-1

What is lava?

• A type of plant

• A type of sedimentary rock

• A type of animal

• Magma that has erupted above Earth's crust

Why do continents float over the denser rocks of the ocean bottom?

• Because they are smaller

• Because they are made of water

• Because they are less dense

• Because they are heavier

What did Wegener call the process of continents moving over time?

• Continental drift

• Plate tectonics

• Mountain building

• Seafloor spreading

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What was the name of the supercontinent proposed by Wegener?

• Atlantis

• Gondwana

• Eurasia

• Pangaea

What happened to the supercontinent Pangaea?

• It stayed the same

• It turned into a desert

• It broke up and the pieces drifted away

• It sank into the ocean

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What happened to Antarctica's climate as the continents drifted?

• It became tropical

• It grew very cold

• It stayed the same

• It became very hot

What remained of the plants and animals in Antarctica after the climate changed?

• Their fossils

• Their nests

• Their bones

• Their footprints

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