Alone Around the world in Prehistoric Times
Object: To stimulate thinking about how the race would have been million of years go, to reinforce the concept that the planet is constantly changing and the importance of asking questions that cause you to think. To think about how these ongoing changes will affect sailing in the not too distant future.
Material: Maps showing the distribution of land mass in previous ages
Map showing projected global warming
Video on Guadalupe Mountain National Park (NatureScene series with Rudy Mancke available from SCETV)
A super continent called Gondwanaland straddled the south pole 400 million years ago. A 100 million years later, Gondwanaland was at the equator. As it stretched to fit the equatorial bulge it was torn apart. In the past 200 million year, the continents resulting from the breakup of Gondwanaland have drifted to their present positions.
Was the moon closer or further away 400 million years ago? Would the moons’ position and Gondwanaland’s location have greatly affected the tides?
Was the Earth spinning on its axis slower, faster or the same as it is today. Was the axis pointing to the North Star? How would that affect your sleep cycle when sailing?
Was magnetic North where it is today? How would that affect your navigation?
What life forms would you encounter in the ocean? You would still be at sea if you were sailing here millions of years ago during the Pliocene-Miocene Epochs. Jaws of titanic proportions awaited the unfortunate mariner. The jaws were those of the Carcharodon megalodon, a distant relative to today's great white shark. Let’s compare them:
Today's Great White Shark Carcharodon megalodon (Meg)
length 18 feet 50 feet average (some were 70 feet)
weight 2 tons 20 tons
teeth 2 1/2 inches 7 inches
Is there any evidence that early man (homo erectus?) sailed or used vessels on the ancient seas?
Would the weather be very different and how might that affect the design of the sailboat? The Earth was 6 to 12 degrees warmer a 100 million years ago than it is today. Dinosaurs could go as far north as Greenland. Eighteen thousand years ago, much of the planet was covered by glaciers and the average temperatures were 5 degrees cooler than today's. In another 50 years from now, the planet may be 3 or more degrees warmer due to global warming. How has sea level varied along the South Carolina coast?
What period of time could you have been sailing over what is now west Texas? What national park could you go to see in west Texas and find evidence that the sea was once there? Answer: Guadalupe Mountains National Park, the mountains are uplifted remains of the Capitan Reef which originated some 250 million years ago during the Permian era when an inland sea covered part of what is now Texas and New Mexico. The video featuring Rudy Mancke shows details of fossil marine life found there.
Lesson plan by Ray Manning, First Baptist Church School