Curated OER
Plotting Earthquakes
Students plot earthquakes on a map. In this lesson on earthquakes, students will explore recent earthquake activity in California and Nevada. Students will plot fault lines and earthquake occurrences on a map.
Curated OER
A Model of Three Faults
Students observe fault movements on model of the Earth's surface, find fault movements associated with different types of plate boundaries, research examples of non-plate boundary faults, and research and report on the types of faults...
Science Matters
Up and Down Fault Blocks
The Sierra Mountains in Nevada and the Tetons in Wyoming originally formed as fault block mountains. In order to visualize these fault blocks, pupils use construction paper to create layers of earth. They cut the paper models and form...
Scholastic
Study Jams! Earthquakes
Have a seismic moment with your class as you show this animated video on earthquakes. Viewers find that quakes occur on faults and are caused by shifting of continental plates. They learn what properties are studied by seismologists and...
Science Matters
Spaghetti Fault Model
Does increasing the pressure between two moving plates provide a stabilizing force or create more destruction? The hands-on lesson encourages exploration of strike-split fault models. The sixth lesson in a 20-part series asks scholars to...
American Museum of Natural History
Earthquakes Tremors From Below
Earthquakes are really no one's fault. A thorough lesson explains the different types of earthquakes how they happen. Learners interact with the online lesson to simulate earthquakes and examine their results. The lesson is appropriate...
Curated OER
Earthquakes: Second Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
What causes earthquakes? Second graders learn about stresses from plate movement with a set of hands-on activities. After tracing fault lines on a map with yarn, class members create a paper plate model of Earth to show its layers and...
Science Matters
A Model of Plate Faults
The San Andreas fault is one of the longest fault zones in the world. In a series of 20 lessons, the fourth lesson has pupils use a paper model to recreate various types of plate faults. Each is held in position then drawn into a science...
Teach Engineering
Earthquakes Living Lab: Designing for Disaster
Build and design to rock and roll. Pairs research building design in earthquake areas and use computer simulations to see the effects of earthquakes on buildings,. They then sketch and explain a building design that would withstand a...
Curated OER
Earthquakes: Sixth Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
Young seismologists learn more about plate tectonics with a set of pre-lab, lab, and post-lab lessons plans on earthquakes. After exploring how waves travel through various materials, sixth graders record their observations and draw...
Teach Engineering
Earthquakes Living Lab: Geology and the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake
We can learn from the past to protect the future. Pairs look at two historical earthquakes: San Francisco, Calif., and Kobe, Japan. Pupils compare the two earthquakes and their impacts, then determine how engineers may use the...
Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi
Earthquakes
What causes earthquakes? What are the effects and impacts of earthquakes? How are earthquakes measured? If there was an earthquake on Mars, would it still be considered an earthquake? Class members will find the answers to these and many...
Curated OER
Earthquakes And Fault Lines
Students discuss major causes of earthquakes and identify famous fault lines, access and map information about ten largest earthquakes in world from 1989 to 1998, and theorize about location of these earthquakes as they relate to Earth's...
Curated OER
Redefining an Earthquake
Ninth graders build an "Earthquake Machine" (a manipulative model of a fault line) and use it to explore stick-slip behavior of some faults and to develop a more accurate definition of an earthquake and its causes.
Curated OER
Earthquakes Rock!
Students study the main methods to measure earthquakes; the Richter Scale and Mercalli Scale. They make a model of a seismograph and investigate which structural designs are most likely to survive an earthquake.
Curated OER
TRB 5:2 - Activity 3: Earthquakes
Students watch a classroom demonstration, and experiment to discover the five ways that Earth's crust shifts along a fault.
Science Matters
Fault Formations
The San Andreas Fault moves about two inches a year, approximately the same rate fingernails grow—crazy! The third lesson in the series allows for hands-on exploration of various fault formations. Through the use of a Popsicle stick,...
Science Matters
Earthquakes and Volcanoes Pre-Assessment
See how much your class knows about earthquakes and volcanic activity and how these events shape geologic features. The first lesson in the series of 20 is a pre-test to find out what pupils already know. It includes 10 vocabulary words...
Teach Engineering
Earthquakes Living Lab: Locating Earthquakes
There are patterns in nearly everything — even earthquakes. 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...
Teach Engineering
Earthquakes Living Lab: Geology and Earthquakes in Japan
Sometimes it seems as if earthquakes hit the same places over and over again. Class members study Japan in order to determine why earthquakes keep happening there. Pairs work together to research and try to determine whether there are...
Teach Engineering
Earthquakes Living Lab: FAQs about P Waves, S Waves and More
Let's talk about earthquakes .... Using the Internet, pupils research what causes earthquakes, how scientists measure them, their locations, and their effects. The resource is not only informative, but it also builds crucial research...
Curated OER
Earthquakes: Fourth Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
Examine earthquake intensities and ways to measure an earthquake through the comparison of the Mercalli and Richter scales. After completing the pre-lab worksheet, fourth graders compare high and low intensity quakes by testing the...
Curated OER
Earthquakes and Seismic Waves
Students explore earthquakes and seismic waves. They investigate how energy is released in the subsurface to create seismic waves. Students explore the inner workings of a seismograph and how they are used to determine the location of an...
Curated OER
Types of Faults
This set of black-line diagrams of the three different types of faults can be used with your upper elementary earth scientists. Simply have them color the layers to show where the land once lined up. Another use for this resource would...