Activity 1 Student Worksheet:
Plot Current Earthquake Data
Earthquakes, a scientific and physical phenomenon, affect our
lives in many ways. Many people do not realize how many
earthquakes happen in one day. During this project you will collect
and observe real time data to get a better understanding of Plate
Tectonics and the frequency of earthquakes.
Procedure:
Part 1:Goto the INTERACTIVE MAP at the below website and then
answer the following questions. IRIS Seismic Monitor
(http://www.teacherplanet.com/links/redirect.php?url=http://www.k12science.o
rg/curriculum/musicalplates3/en/ )
Questions: View the world map that has seismic activity. Look at the key in
the upper left corner.
a. What does the color Red, Orange, Yellow, and Purple mean on this map?
b. What does the size and number of the rings mean?
c. Describe the patterns of seismic that you see. (location, size, time, etc.)
d. USE THE BUTTONS ON THE RIGHT OF THE SMALL MAP TO ZOOM INTO
N. AMERICA. Describe were earthquakes are occurring in North America.
Explain possible reasons why earthquakes are occurring in those locations in
North America.
Part 2: Collecting Data
1. Click on one of the web site listed below to see all of the
earthquakes that have occurred over the last few days which were
larger than 2.5 on the Richter Scale.
IRIS List of Earthquakes (last 30 days)
(http://www.teacherplanet.com/links/redirect.php?url=http://www.k12scie
nce.org/curriculum/musicalplates3/en/)
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Note that in the first two columns you will see the time and date for each
earthquake.
Note that in the second two columns you will see the latitude and
longitude coordinates for the epicenter of the earthquake.
NOTE: a latitude of + corresponds to degrees North and a latitude of corresponds to degrees South
a longitude of + corresponds to degrees
East and a longitude of - corresponds to degrees West
2. Copy and paste the last 25 earthquakes that occurred into a word
document and then print it.
3. Use the latitude and longitude coordinates to plot a dot on your
world map which represents the epicenter of the earthquake. Use
a blue star if the earthquake occurred near the surface (less than
100 km) and use a red star if it occurred deep (greater than 100
km) in the earth (you will see the depth measurements in the
table.)
NOTE: You can use the links that appear in the last column of the table to
assist you in finding the locations of the earthquakes if using the latitude and
longitude coordinates is too difficult
1. .