Science

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Scenario As early as 1596, mapmakers and explorers noticed how the shapes of the coastlines of continents, especially South America and Africa, seemed to fit together. In 1912, Wegener proposed his theory of continental drift. The image below displays some of the evidence Wegener used to support his theory.

Based on the evidence, write a scientific explanation for how Glossopteris fossils have been found on four different continents.

6E5G Fossil Evidence of a Changing Earth

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Claim

Evidence

Reasoning

6E5G Fossil Evidence of a Changing Earth

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Rebuttal (Optional)

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6E5G Fossil Evidence of a Changing Earth

Rubric for Writing a Scientific Explanation

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Points Awarded

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Claim Student makes an accurate and complete claim.

Student makes a claim that is inaccurate or incomplete.

Student does not make a claim.

Evidence Student makes use of all pieces of available evidence, uses labels, and addresses variables.

Student provides some pieces of accurate evidence but does not make use of all available evidence.

Student does not provide evidence or only provides inappropriate or vague evidence.

Reasoning Student connects evidence to the claim and uses scientific principles and vocabulary.

Student cites a reason, but it is inaccurate or does not support the claim. Student’s reasoning does not use scientific terminology or uses it inaccurately.

Student does not connect the evidence to the claim.

6E5G Fossil Evidence of a Changing Earth