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Social Studies 5: The Impact of One: Alfred Wegener’s Ideas and Pangaea 66 Views


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Description:

Get ready to learn about the biggest breakup the planet has ever seen. It all started with a relationship that the tabloids liked to call "Pangaea"...

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:06

[Dino and Coop singing]

00:13

While curiosity may have killed the cat… [Gravestone for Mr. Fluffers]

00:16

… human curiosity has helped change the way we see ourselves and our world. [A zombie walking around]

00:20

Curious people see simple things as clues for… less simple things. [Magnifying glass shows an atom]

00:24

And they know that sometimes the first answer doesn’t tell the whole story, and that other

00:28

observations might need to be made to get a clear picture of the truth. [Scientist looking through a telescope]

00:31

Which is a good thing. That’s how innovation happens.

00:34

Alfred Wegener was a curious person who saw something others didn’t.

00:38

In fact, because what Wegener saw was so new, at first people didn’t believe him…which [People looking unimpressed]

00:43

caused him to mope in his room all day listening to sad songs.

00:47

That’s right, Wegener was the first emo kid. [Emo kid sat on his bed]

00:49

Oh, and he was also a German scientist who, in 1912, put forward the theory of continental drift. [Wegener holding up his theory paper]

00:55

One day, Wegener was looking at a map of the world and saw that South America and Africa

00:59

lined up, almost like puzzle pieces. [Africa and South America put together]

01:01

Wegener believed that the continents might have been joined together once…

01:04

…and then…split up.

01:06

Break-ups are hard, even for land masses. [Different stages of continental drift shown]

01:08

Needing proof for his theory, Wegener decided to go all CSI on it. [Wegener at a crime scene]

01:12

And by that we mean “Continental Science Investigations.” [Wegener holding a briefcase that says 'Continental Science Investigations']

01:16

Wegener did indeed find evidence to support his one-continent theory, including small,

01:20

prehistoric fossils found on both continents… [Picture of a fossil]

01:23

… glaciers that had left scars in desert environments…

01:25

… and coal deposits found in unusual places.

01:28

Wegener theorized that at one point, all of the continents we see today must have been [Santa Claus holding a lump of coal]

01:32

joined in a single land mass, which he called “Pangaea”

01:35

…from the Greek word “pan” meaning “all” and “Gaia”, meaning “Mother Earth."

01:39

Makes more sense than naming it “Paul,” right?

01:42

Wegner’s theory is widely accepted now, but in

01:44

his time it was crazy stuff that flew in the face of accepted ideas about how landmasses [Page rips itself away and flies out the window]

01:49

on Earth were formed. So… his ideas about continental drift made him a kind of scientific rebel. [The paper hits someones windshield and they wipe it off]

01:54

Unfortunately, as has happened way too often in history, people had a hard time accepting

01:58

something that was so different from what they’d always believed was true. [Bars surrounding the scientist]

02:02

The scientific community challenged Wegener.

02:04

Which was a problem because, well, Wegener couldn’t actually explain how the continents [People asking Wegener questions as he presents his theory]

02:09

might have drifted. He just knew that they had.

02:11

It wasn’t until the 1950s that research into plate tectonics would fill in this gap [A giant book 'Plate Tectonics for Dummies' fills a canyon]

02:16

in Wegener’s theory. Unfortunately… Wegener wasn’t around to see his theory justified.

02:20

Which is massively disappointing, if you catch our drift.

02:24

In 1930, Wegener died while on an expedition in Greenland. [Wegener in huge winter coat]

02:28

He joined a long list of notable individuals in history who died before they saw their

02:32

accomplishments gain wide acceptance.

02:35

Still, it’s pretty cool that the curiosity of one person who lived a hundred years ago [Wegener's grave stone]

02:38

could so radically change our understanding of the world.

02:41

And hey, at least he’s being featured in a Shmoop video.

02:44

We like to think that’s the true peak of success… [Someone watching a Shmoop video on their computer]

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