Pangaea Puzzle

In this activity, students use fossil evidence, rock strata, and continental shapes to reconstruct how Earth’s continents were once joined together as the supercontinent Pangaea about 220 million years ago. By piecing together cutouts of landmasses, they explore the evidence supporting plate tectonics.

1. Introduce students to the concept of plate tectonics and the idea that continents were once connected.
2. Display a globe or world map and have students consider how continents might fit together like puzzle pieces.
3. Provide pairs of students with continent cutouts, scissors, glue or tape, and a sheet of paper.
4. Cut out the continent and island pieces and examine the symbols that represent geological and fossil evidence.
5. Match continental boundaries using fossil distribution, desert belts, rock layers, and physical shapes of continents.
6. Arrange and glue the landmasses onto the circle to form Pangaea, labeling the continents and the time period.
7. Compare reconstructions with the provided answer key and discuss the reasoning behind placements.

How To Make Pangaea | Geology Unit - Pepper and Pine:

📄 Activity: A Plate Tectonic Puzzle - American Museum of Natural History: https://www.amnh.org/content/download/49383/751589/file/plate-tectonics-puzzle.pdf

📄 Pangea Puzzle - Florida Museum: https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2020/05/Florida-Museum-Pangea-Activity.pdf

• Have students attempt the puzzle without using the fossil evidence, relying only on the shapes of continents.
• Use digital mapping tools or an online interactive version for reconstruction.
• Extend the activity by investigating how continents have shifted from Pangaea to their present-day positions.

• Use scissors safely when cutting out continent shapes.
• Ensure glue or tape is used properly and does not create a mess in the workspace.

• What evidence shows that continents were once connected? (Similar fossils, rock layers, and desert belts found on different continents.)
• How do the shapes of continents suggest they were once joined? (For example, the east coast of South America fits with the west coast of Africa.)
• Why do scientists believe continents are still moving today? (Measurements show tectonic plates shift a few centimeters each year.)
• What natural events result from plate movement? (Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and mountain formation.)
• How does reconstructing Pangaea help us understand Earth’s history? (It shows how continents and life forms were once distributed and how geological processes shaped the planet.)