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EARTHQUAKES
Causes
An earthquake is caused by the sudden release of elastic energy in the crust of the Earth. These
elastic waves radiate away from the source and vibrate the ground. They generally occur along
crustal faults, caused by the displacement of crustal plates. This process is known as plate
tectonics. Earthquakes can cause other natural disasters such as landslides, avalanches, fires,
floods and tsunamis.
Resources
Earthquakes 101 – National Geographic (video)
This resource is a quick movie produced by National Geographic. It simply outlines the major
themes of earthquakes, mainly focusing on the geological causes of earthquakes. It is great
resource to be used as an introduction to the topic of earthquakes or as a conclusion to the
unit.
Inside Earthquakes – National Geographic (video)
This movie takes a look at the devastating effect that earthquakes can have on people. It uses
home videos and security camera footage to show the raw power of Earthquakes. This video is
a great resource to be used before introducing the topic of Earthquake mitigation.
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Seismic waves
Resources
Slinky demonstration of seismic waves (interactive activity)
www.teachingboxes.org/earthquakes/lessons.html
This website has great lesson and activities based around the concepts of seismic waves. It
includes an experiment involving ropes and Slinkys to demonstrate the different types of waves
that propagate from Earthquakes. There is also an idea for a lesson based on the students’
knowledge of seismic waves that asks them to predict the type of damage that will occur in
different areas. The ideas found on this site would be a great segue into a future lesson on
earthquake mitigation.
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Earthquake mapping
Resources
Musical plates (mapping activity)
www.geology.com/techer /earthquake.shtml
This website has some great links including musical plates. It is a resource to aid teachers in
teaching the concepts of plate tectonics, faults, epicenter and focus. In the first activity,
students will be asked to do some research and determine where past earthquakes have
occurred and to plot them on a map of the earth. With this activity students will begin to make
hypothesis about the location of Earth’s crustal boundaries. This link provides large
downloadable global maps, as well as, maps showing recent and past earthquake locations. This
lesson can be done in one day, if adapted, or over a couple of weeks like the website suggests.
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Human impact and mitigation
Larger earthquakes may cause human injury and loss of life. They may also cause significant
damage to roads, bridges and buildings causing them to potentially fail. Every year about
10,000 people die as a result of earthquakes and cause billions of dollars in damage
Resources
Building your own earthquake proof structure (interactive activity)
http://macombschools.org/udl-e3t/LPC1PV.cfm?ID=254
In this lesson, students will already have learned about waves and earthquake mitigation. They
will be given a predetermined amount of building material and asked to build a structure that
can withstand an earthquake. Their structures will be tested on different surfaces (a table, box
of sand with or with the addition of water, etc.) to show how the structures will hold up. With
this activity students will learn about seismic waves and earthquake mitigation in a fun and
hands on way. This lesson can be adapted in a variety of ways to suit a variety of grade levels.
Case Study
Country profile (assignment)
At the end of the unit on earthquakes students are assigned a country with a history of
earthquake activity and are asked to write a paper or prepare a visual about the subject of
earthquakes and earthquake mitigation in this country. The length and amount of detail
required for this assignment can be altered to fit specific grade levels.