There's a Whole Lot of Shakin' Goin' On: Earthquake Lessons on the Net
The February 28 earthquake in Seattle is stirring a lot of discussion in classrooms around the country. Education World compiled this list of resources to
help teachers help kids learn about the science of earthquakes. Included: Links to lesson plans, WebQuests, and more!
Education World offers more than a dozen great resources to help teachers take advantage of this "teachable moment."
The first stop for teachers in search of earthquake teaching resources should be the Earthquake Hazards Program from the U.S. Geological Survey. This resource includes great maps that identify recent earthquake activity. Click on U.S. map to see activity in your region of the country and in other regions. Earthquake Education includes Stuff for Kids, which offers Today in Earthquake History, Cool Earthquake Facts, Science Fair Project Ideas, a glossary, and more. Stuff for Teachers includes across-the-grade resources for teaching about the structure of Earth, earthquakes, plate tectonics, and earthquake preparedness.
Following are some of the other great Web resources that Education World editors found!
Today's Earthquake Activity Around the World
http://vathena.arc.nasa.gov/curric/land/todayqk.html
Adapt this activity for kids in elementary school through high school. Students use real-time Internet resources to keep a record of the locations of current earthquakes. They plot those locations on a map and color code those marks to indicate the quakes' relative magnitudes. Then they use their maps to infer the locations of tectonic plate boundaries, which they check against actual maps showing plate boundaries.
Earthquake!
http://web.archive.org/web/20040406170032/http://www.esc20.net/etprojects/formats/webquests/fall99/earthquake/default.html
This WebQuest for students in the elementary grades begins with this premise: Your parents told you this past weekend that your family is moving to California. All the kids at school have been teasing you, saying that California is going to fall into the ocean. By completing this WebQuest, you will become an earthquake expert and ensure that you and your family will be safe in your new home.
Earthquakes in Illinois?
http://web.archive.org/web/20041012201755/http://home.sullivan.k12.il.us/teachers/brunner/Earthquake.htm
This interdisciplinary WebQuest was designed for middle school students in Illinois, but it could easily be adapted for students in other locations. The task: As an employee of the Safety Division of the Illinois Geological Survey, your boss, Mrs. Aftershock, has asked you to help write an informational article. The purpose of this article is to inform the public about the threat of earthquakes with the hope of reducing loss of life and property in future shocks.
Musical Plates
http://www.k12science.org/curriculum/musicalplates
This WebQuest involves students in using real-time data to pinpoint the exact locations of recent earthquakes, determine whether certain parts of the world tend to experience more earthquakes than others, and determine what caused the earthquakes. The Quest was developed by the Center for Improved Engineering and Science Education at the Stevens Institute of Technology and the Bank Street College of Education.
Earthquakes WebQuest
http://volweb.utk.edu/Schools/sullivan/colonial/equakes.htm
Students travel back to a long-ago earthquake that took place near Memphis, Tennessee. They learn what people who lived then had to say about the devastating earthquake and then visit the future to see what the possibility that an earthquake of that size could hit the Memphis area might be. Created for use in middle schools, this activity could be adapted to other grades and to your geographic area.
Earthquakes Web Quest
http://www.can-do.com/uci/lessons98/Earthquakes.html
Students chart the location, magnitude, and frequency of recent earthquake activity of the Mammoth Lakes area in California and determine which factor is most significant to their safety as skiers on Mammoth Mountain. The premise of this activity could be adapted to your geographic area.
Earthshaking Lab Lesson Plan
http://www.jclahr.com/science/earth_science/tabletop/earthshaking/
Earthquakes can provide a useful context for teaching or reviewing many basic physics concepts, such as sliding and static friction, forms of energy and conversion from one form to another, and the elastic properties of materials. Conducting this lesson provides an opportunity for students to work cooperatively to develop and test a hypothesis, make measurements, and write a short report on the results with graphs.
Virtual Earthquake
http://www.sciencecourseware.org/VirtualEarthquake/VQuakeExecute.html
Virtual Earthquake is an interactive Web-based program designed to introduce students to the concepts of locating an earthquake's epicenter and determining the Richter-scale magnitude of an earthquake. The Virtual Earthquake computer program runs on a Web server at California State University at Los Angeles. Students can interact with Virtual Earthquake using their Web browsers.
Article by Gary Hopkins
Education World®
Copyright © 2006 Education World
Originally published 03/05/2001
Links last updated 04/10/2007
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