Plate Motion Unit Test

When a fossil of an animal is found on almost all continents, then it supports

• the idea of a traveling animal
• the idea of a connected original continent
• the idea of a flying animal

Fossil remains of Lystrosaurus (an extinct four-legged animal) have been discovered in India and South Africa. When they were living, all the Lystrosaurus lived together on land, and they could not swim. However, now there is an ocean between the Lystrosaurus fossils. What could explain how these fossils got so far apart?

• India and South Africa are parts of different plates. The plates slowly moved far apart as soft, solid rock from underneath got added to the edges of the plates over millions of years.
• India and South Africa are parts of different plates. The plates floated away from each other across the ocean.
• India and South Africa are parts of different plates. The plates slowly moved apart as new plates from underneath got added between them over millions of years.
• India and South Africa are parts of different plates. The plates were sometimes pushed far apart by earthquakes, and soft, solid rock from underneath got added to the edges of the plates.

Earth's outermost layer of hard, solid rock that is underneath the soil, vegetation, and water

• plate
• mantle
• outer layer
• surface

the place where two plates meet

• pattern
• surface
• plate boundary
• cross section

a diagram that shows what the inside of something looks like

• plate
• plate boundary
• outer layer
• cross section

something we observe to be similar over and over again

• pattern
• surface
• analyze
• rate

a sudden shaking of Earth's surface

• pattern
• earthquake
• tornado
• storm

fossils

• a long, deep indentation in the ocean floor formed when two plates move together
• the layer of soft, solid rock underneath Earth's plates
• to examine in detail for a purpose
• evidence of life from the past, such as fossilized bones, footprints, or leaf prints

Mesosaurus

• an extinct reptile that lived about 300 million years ago
• the sudden pushing out of something, such as lava from a volcano
• Earth’s outermost layer of hard, solid rock that is underneath the soil, vegetation, and water
• an object, diagram, or computer program that helps us understand something by making it simpler or easier to see

Plate Boundary

• The place where two plates meet; most volcanoes and earthquakes occur here.
• The location where the food falls onto the table.
• Where one country ends and another begins.
• The edge of your patella.