TITLE OF THE LEARNING EXPERIENCE: The Great Puzzle by Melanie Fitzgerald, Adriondack School

1. LEARNING CONTEXT
Students will be able to complete this learning experience by relating it to the iniatiating activity of constructing a puzzle

This experience will show evidence that the Theory of drifting continents as proposed by Alfred Wegener is correct

2. PROCEDURE Relate this experience to the iniatiating activity and review the clues that made it possible to complete the picture

Give instructions to students: a. Point out areas A, B, D, D and relate it to Wegener's Theory. b. Students hould color the sections to match the letters of the alphabet. c. Cut the land masses and transfer to a blank sheet of paper. d. Move landmasses around to complete one supercontinent. e. Complete to get the best fit possible to form Pangaea and supprot Wegener's Theory.

3. INSTRUCTIONAL/ENVIRONMENTAL MODIFICATIONS
Use of an Atlas to aid those students having difficulty fitting the landmasses together, allow students to work with a partner

4. TIME REQUIRED
Planning: 1 hour

Implementation: one 40 minute class period

Assessment: 5-8 minutes/paper 1

5. RESOURCES
Student: colored pencils, scissors, copy of land masses, glue, sheet of construction paper, Atlas

Teacher: overhead copy of land masses, wall map or globe rubric

6. ASSESSMENT PLAN
Score 4: all 7 continents included, all rock formations joined, appropiate title spelled correctly, activity arranged neatly on paper

Score 3: 5-6 continents included, most rock formations joined, title somewhat connected to activity, some of the continents not glued properly

Score 2: 3-4 continents included, some rock formations joined, title not connected to activity, most of the continents not arranged neatly

Score 1: 0-2 continents included, none of the rock formations joined, activity does not have a title, paper is dirty and messy

7. STUDENT WORK
1 paper with #4 rating

1 paper with #2-3 rating

8. REFLECTION
Learning experience meets above criteria since students analyze a theory and the elements that support or discredit the theory of Alfred Wegoner. They prove or disprove an hypothesis and evaluate their conclusion. It supports the standards of scientific inquiry in that the explanation of a natural phenonmena is developed in a creative process. All the students are actively engages in the process.

Materials are from the Scientific Discovery with the Laser Disc. It is published by Silver Burdett and this experiement correlates with materials presented on the disc.