Stephanie Mansfield
Earthquakes and Action Words
GLCES:
E.SE.E.2 Surface Changes
W.GR.2.1 Parts of speech
Objectives:
Students will learn how the Earth’s surface changes through the process of plate tectonics
(earthquakes.)
Students will correctly use verbs to enhance their writing.
Materials:
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Earthquakes by Judith Stamper
Graham crackers (broken into smaller pieces)
Frosting (a couple containers)
Plastic knives
Plates or wax paper
Paper towels to clean up
Examples of action words used with earthquakes
Paper
Pencils
Vocabulary words
Before Reading:
I will ask students to raise their hand if they know what a verb is. I will then explain what a verb is and
how it is used. I will tell students that we will be talking about verbs that are used when we talk about
earthquakes. Students will become aware that we will be learning about earthquakes and I will ask
students what they know about earthquakes and what earthquakes do. I anticipate someone will know
the answer. I will then ask students where earthquakes happen. I assume they will give answers like
California etc. Next I will introduce the book I want to read to them all about earthquakes. I will tell the
students to pay close attention to the words that belong with earthquakes because after the lesson we
will be writing our own earthquake/action story.
During Reading:
At various points throughout the book I will point out important words or phrases. I will ask students
what they mean and if they don’t know I will explain more in depth. Some examples are: tectonic plates,
Richter Scale, fault, epicenter, seismic waves etc. Don’t flood the students with too many terms, make
sure to explain the most important ones so they understand the concept and can write about them
later. There are notes in the book to point out action words and terms.
After Reading:
I will have the students perform the earthquake demonstration with the graham crackers and frosting. I
will keep referring to the graham crackers as tectonic plates (or just plates). We will slide them past each
other (transform fault) and I will point out to the students that the plates are floating on the molten
earth, (frosting). Then we will perform the other two boundaries thrust fault (come together) and
normal fault (pull apart). I will also point out how mountains would be made during a thrust fault.
During all of this I will walk around making sure students stay on task and actually understand the
differences in the faults and how they cause earthquakes.
Clean up! The students will quickly clean-up. They may save the graham crackers and frosting to eat
during snack time if they wish but the desks must be clear for the next assignment. We will then go over
the vocabulary words on the poster. The students will be responsible for writing their own earthquake
story using verbs and vocabulary words.
Assessment:
The assessment will be participation in the fault activity as well as writing an earthquake story. The
students are expected to follow directions and have fun while learning some important information. I
expect the students to ask questions and generate some imaginative ideas for stories. When they are
finished they can return to other classwork they need to finish or they may read to themselves.
Accommodations/modifications:
Since there are two students with disabilities I can shorten their writing requirement if necessary and
give them a little extra attention/partner them up with someone during the fault activity.
List of vocabulary words:
Aftershock: a smaller quake that follows a big earthquake.
Crust: the rocky outer layer of earth.
Data: information scientists collect.
Epicenter: the spot the earthquake starts from.
Fault: a crack or break in the earth’s crust.
Magma: melted rock under the crust. This is what the plates slide over/ float on.
Seismic waves: waves of energy that travel through the earth. These are what we feel and what cause
damage.
Seismograph: the machine that measures how strong the waves are.
Tectonic plates: the puzzle pieces that make up earth’s crust.
Tsunami: a huge wave caused by an earthquake in the ocean.
Richter Scale: the scale used to measure earthquakes from 1-10 in intensity.