EARTHQUAKE
A Webquest by
Johnna Compton
All links current as of December 4, 2003
INTRODUCTION
• You are an expert seismologist. There has
been a magnitude 7.5 earthquake in the
eastern Kentucky region. This is an area
where earthquakes are not common. Your
expertise has been requested by the mayor
of Pikeville, a city in eastern Kentucky that
has suffered considerable damage from this
unexpected earthquake.
• What causes an earthquake to occur? Is
there any way an earthquake can be
predicted? What precautions could residents
take in the future to help protect them from
the damage caused by this natural disaster?
Task
• The city of Pikeville needs your assistance to construct
a newsletter informing the citizens of this eastern KY
town of helpful information about earthquakes.
• You must work individually to design an informative
newsletter for the people in this town. You will
collaborate with one classmate seismologist to prepare
a newscast and present this newscast to the class.
• You need to provide answers to questions, such as:
• What causes earthquakes to happen?
• How severe was the earthquake they just
experienced?
• Are there any warning signs that an earthquake will
occur?
• What should you do to stay safe if you experience an
earthquake?
• With these questions in mind, continue with your
webquest.
PROCESS
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First, you must discover some basic information about
earthquakes by investigating the following links:
To review basic information about earthquakes
http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/text/understanding.html
http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/text/tectonics.html
To find out about earthquake intensity
http://www.eas.slu.edu/Earthquake_Center/mercalli.html
To listen to actual earthquakes
http://quake.usgs.gov/info/listen/source.html
To obtain information useful to people living in an area that is
a possible future location of an earthquake
http://www.redcross.org/services/disaster/keepsafe/readyear
th.html
http://www.fema.gov/hazards/earthquakes/quakef.shtm/
Then you must attain your Virtual Seismologist Certificate by
completing the activities found at the following
link:http://www.sciencecourseware.com/virtualearthquake/
Evaluation
CATEGORY
4
3
2
1
All facts presented
in the story are
accurate.
Almost all facts
presented in the
story are accurate.
Most facts
presented in the
story are accurate
(at least 70%).
There are several
factual errors in
the story.
The final draft of
the story is
readable, clean,
neat and attractive.
It is free of
erasures and
crossed-out words.
It looks like the
author took great
pride in it.
The final draft of
the story is
readable, neat and
attractive. It may
have one or two
erasures, but they
are not distracting.
It looks like the
author took some
pride in it.
The final draft of
the story is
readable and
some of the pages
are attractive. It
looks like parts of it
might have been
done in a hurry.
The final draft is
not neat or
attractive. It looks
like the student
just wanted to get
it done and didn't
care what it looked
like.
The entire story is
related to the
assigned topic and
allows the reader
to understand
much more about
the topic.
Most of the story is
related to the
assigned topic.
The story wanders
off at one point,
but the reader can
still learn
something about
the topic.
Some of the story
is related to the
assigned topic, but
a reader does not
learn much about
the topic.
No attempt has
been made to
relate the story to
the assigned topic.
The story is very
well organized.
One idea or scene
follows another in
a logical sequence
with clear
transitions.
The story is pretty
well organized.
One idea or scene
may seem out of
place. Clear
transitions are
used.
The story is a little
hard to follow. The
transitions are
sometimes not
clear.
Ideas and scenes
seem to be
randomly
arranged.
Accuracy of Facts
Neatness
Focus on Assigned
Topic
Organization
CONCLUSION
• After completing this webquest and
earning your seismologist certificate you
have learned:
• what causes earthquakes to occur
• how the intensity of the earthquake is
determined using the Mercalli Scale
• what is the epicenter of an earthquake
• how do you determine the epicenter of an
earthquake
To finalize your webquest experience, Email the webmaster
a reflective paragraph in which you critique this webquest to
tjcompton3@msn.com
Teachers
*The main objective is to:
-investigate basic information
about earthquakes
-estimate the epicenter of a
chosen earthquake site
-explore various sounds of
actual earthquakes
*The students’ learning is assessed based on:
-the accuracy of the material presented in the newscast
- the newscast provides answers to essential questions
* This webquest is useful for offering the students a real world
assignment involving earthquakes. They have the
opportunity to apply what they have learned about
earthquakes.
Credits
• Webquest created by Johnna
Compton
• Special thanks to Jaime Fields for
her assistance