Seven activities make up the TeachEngineering: Earthquakes Living Lab Collection. Activities designed for grades K-8 include “Geology and the 1906 San Francisco Quake,” “Designing for Disaster,” and “The Theory of Plate Tectonics.”...

Class members look at two historical earthquakes: San Francisco, California, and Kobe, Japan. Pairs compare the two earthquakes and their impacts, then determine how engineers may use the information gleaned from previous earthquakes to...

Pairs research building design in earthquake-prone areas and use computer simulations to see the effects of earthquakes on buildings. They sketch and explain a building design that would withstand a strong earthquake.

Using the Internet, pupils research what causes earthquakes, how scientists measure them, their locations, and their effects.

Pairs research current earthquakes to see if there are any patterns. They determine the mean, median, and mode of the earthquake data, along with the maximum and minimum. Using that information, they make earthquake predictions for a year.

Four resources make up a collection that breaks down each part of the plate tectonic cycle, developed by Math/Science Nucleus. With pre- and post-labs, discussion topics, and writing assignments, sixth graders take on a hands-on approach...