NEW 2015 RESOURCES
Earthquakes Theme Page
Below are the CLN "Theme Pages" which may supplement the study of earthquakes.
CLN's theme pages are collections of useful Internet educational resources within
a narrow curricular topic and contain links to two types of information. Students
and teachers will find curricular resources (information, content...) to help
them learn about this topic. In addition, there are links to instructional materials
(lesson plans) which will help teachers provide instruction in this theme.
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Natural Disasters
-
General Earthquake Resources
This "Theme Page" has links to two types of resources related to the study of earthquakes. Students and teachers will find curricular resources (information, content...) to help them learn about this topic. In addition, there are also links to instructional materials (lesson plans) which will help teachers provide instruction in this theme. Please read our disclaimer.
[The]
ABC's of Plate Tectonics
- "A broad analysis of the basic principles that should apply to the movements
of plates, some new hypotheses about how they apply to convection and landform
formation, and some expected scenarios for differing tectonic events."
-
Big
Trouble in Earthquake Country
- In this four day unit plan, high school students use on-line data to hypothesize
what would happen to life and property from earthquakes of various magnitudes.
They then develop strategies to minimize damage and loss of life in their
home town area.
-
Canadian
National Earthquake Hazards Program
- Lots of information on Canadian earthquakes, including reports of recent
earthquakes in or near Canada, maps, and plots of seismograph network recordings.
In addition, there are links to reports on specific earthquakes, regional
reports, and Q&A files. An archive of seismographical data is also found at
this site.
-
Candy
Quakes
- In this lesson plan, grade 8 students use candy bars, gum, and licorice
sticks to learn how deformational forces affect the earth's crust. It's probably
safe to say that this unique lesson will energize your students - both before
and afterwards.
-
Earthforce
in the Crust
- The Franklin Institute Science Musuem provides a brief description of plate
tectonics followed by a well defined set of external links to earthquake resources.
Headings include: Current Quakings, Plate Tectonics, Earthquake Science, Teacher
Lessons, Interactives, History, and Preparedness.
-
Earthquake
Information
- The United States Geological Survey site contains a meta list of links
to latest quake information (maps and lists), information on hazards and preparedness,
earthquake FAQs and information, and links to other resources.
-
Earthquakes
- The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency sponsors this "FEMA for Kids"
site on earthquakes. There are over 10 lessons/activities specially designed
for children.
-
Earth's
Interior & Plate Tectonics
- An instructional document divided into section on "The Earth's Interior
" and "The Lithosphere & Plate Tectonics" (Oceanic Lithosphere, Continental
Lithosphere ) and "Plate Tectonics").
-
Encarta
Online: Eye on Earthquakes
- In the process of developing their own TV News Shows, grade 4-9 students
learn about the history of earthquakes, the formation of continents, and earthquake
measurement and prediction.
-
Every
Place has its Faults
- An explanation, complete with animation, on the four basic types of faults.
-
Faults,
A Model of Three Faults
- Grade 7-12 students use a model of the earth's surface to learn about fault
movements in this lesson plan from the USGS.
-
The
Great 1906 Earthquake and Fire
- From the Museum of the City of San Francisco, this Website explores the
earthquake of 1906 through photographs, eyewitness accounts, newspaper clippings
and reports from departments and organizations of the time. You can also find
information on the 1989 San Francisco earthquake.
-
ISU's
Earthquake Home Page
- This site at Indiana State University lists the date, time, and shows the
ticker-tape for the most recent earthquakes.
-
Musical
Plates
- In this multidisciplinary project, elementary grade students can learn
about earthquakes through activities that use real time earthquake data as
well as language art activities that look at how earthquakes affect our lives.
There is also a teacher's area to assist educators in implementing this project
in their classroom.
-
National
Earthquake Information Center
- This US site provides information on current earthquakes and earthquakes
in general as well as links to other information sources.
-
New
York Times Learning Network
- These lesson plans use New York Times articles as a starting point.
- Admidst
the Rubble of Ruined Cities In this lesson plan, grade 6-12 students
develop an understanding of the impact an earthquake could have on a country
by developing and proposing solutions to rebuild Columbia's infrastructure
in the wake of the January 25, 1999 earthquake.
- National
Tragedy, Global Response Grade 6-12 students "explore how different
people on local, national and international levels respond to a destructive
natural disaster and the needs of its victims and how various facets of
the media cover such an event, focusing specifically on the earthquake
that devastated Turkey on August 17, 1999."
- Outreach
in the Aftermath Grade 6-12 students "investigate the many types of
aid needed to help Turkey recover and rebuild in the wake of the earthquake
that devastated a large portion of the country on August 17, 1999. "
-
Origami
Activities
- An activity from the New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources,
students can make a hexaflexagon with earthquake-education themes.
-
Pacific
Geoscience Centre, National Earthquakes Hazard Program
- Along with current earthquake information for Western Canada, there are
a number of educational resources for teachers including All about Earthquakes:
Frequently Asked Questions, This Day in Earthquake History, and Earthquakes
in Eastern and Western Canada.
-
Plate
Tectonics
- Nasa's Observatorium presents an article on plate tectonics for students
in grades 6-9 which presents the theory of plate tectonics in easy-to-understand
concepts. There's also a teacher's guide, but you'll have to read through
the article to find it.
-
The
Restless Planet: Earthquakes
- This PBS online site (based on the Savage Earth series) explores earthquakes
through the article: "Earth: All Stressed Out." For more information,
check out the three sidebars: Learning from Earthquakes, Quake Prediction,
and Build Smart, Not Hard. The site has Flash and QuickTime animations.
-
Shake,
Rattle, and Roll
- Two hands-on teaching activities for elementary/junior high students from
the National Science Foundation. In the first, students explore structural
design by constructing buildings that can withstand simulated earthquakes.
They then design a series of experiments to explore the relationship between
type of groundand the degree of damage a building is likely to sustain.
-
Surfing
for Earthquakes and Volcanoes
- In this week long lesson plan, middle school students research earthquakes
and volcanoes on the Internet. Topics include: continental plate boundaries;
interaction between plate boundaries; causes of earthquakes and volcanoes;
and the comparison of the formation of Olympus Mons on Mars and the Hawaiian
volcanic chain.
-
Surfing
the Internet for Earthquake Data
- This site is a meta-list of links to sites where seismic information of
one kind or another is available.
-
TrackStar
- TrackStar is an online interface which allows instructors to create lessons
for students by sequencing existing instructional content in various web sites
within a lesson. Students explore one topic at a particular location within
one web site then move on to the next topic at another web site. The list
of topics remains visible throughout the lesson so that students can remain
on track. Explorations of the web sites beyond the designated instructional
content are also possible.
This link is to their search page from where a keyword search on "earthquake"
will produce numerous hits. Caution #1: Many (most?) of the web sites that
these lessons access will already be on this CLN page - it's the creation
of lesson objectives and the sequencing of the tours through the sites that
make the lesson potentially useful to your students. Caution #2: The quality
of the lessons (e.g., definining objectives, finding web sites, sequencing
the tours) will vary widely within the TrackStar collection.
-
UNR
Seismological Laboratory
- The Nevada Seismological Laboratory at the University of Nevada, Reno has
prepared six documents containing explanations, maps, and illustrations for
the following earthquake topics.
-
[The] Virtual Times: Recent Earthquakes & Active Volcanoes
- Maps and figures of recent earthquakes.

Note: The sites listed above will serve as a source of curricular content in Earthquakes. For other resources in Science (e.g., curricular content in Earth Science, General Science, Life Science, or Physical Science), or for lesson plans and theme pages, click the "previous screen" button below. Or, click here if you wish to return directly to the CLN menu which will give you access to educational resources in all of our subjects.