180 million years ago Pangaea the super-continent began to break up. There are many theories of why, however, scientist believed that Pangaea broke apart for the same reason the continents move today. There are plates underneath the continents and when the Earth heats up it causes movement and the continents drift apart. Have the students visualize the continents moving by explaining how pieces of a puzzle move on a flat surface. You cannot see the table, desk, etc.
Continents are on top of the plates like the pieces of a puzzle are on top of a desk, table, etc.
Have the students hypothesize what Pangea looked like by putting the puzzle of the continents together. Hold up all the Pangaea hypotheses next to the real Pangaea and have the children vote on which group s hypothesis matches the closest. This gives the children an opportunity to see the results of other groups and develop their own reasoning skills, ultimately picking which hypothesis is more accurate. The plates are still moving today making the Atlantic Ocean larger and the Pacific Ocean smaller. The Indian plate crashed into the Eurasian plate will lots of speed and force to create the largest mountain range on Earth, the Himalayas.