TeachersFirst's Earthquake Resources
Whether you teach about earthquakes as part of a unit on plate tectonics in an Earth Science class or need resources to explain a recent natural disaster, this collection of reviewed resources from TeachersFirst is selected to help teachers and students understand how earthquakes happen and learn about famous earthquakes in history. Also included are sites and tools well suited for projects about earthquakes. View all of our resources tagged Earthquakes.
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Faultline - Exploratorium
Grades
4 to 12
Bring the power and drama of an actual earthquake into your classroom with this beautifully designed Web site. In addition to basic information about the science behind this natural...more
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Bring the power and drama of an actual earthquake into your classroom with this beautifully designed Web site. In addition to basic information about the science behind this natural phenomenon - including explanations of plate tectonics, faults, and how scientist measure earthquake force - the site provides historical information about some of the world's most devastating quakes and some breathtaking video clips.
tag(s): earth (183), earthquakes (47), plate tectonics (23)
In the Classroom
Share this site on an interactive whiteboard or projector. As a class go through the information titled Great Shakes, then show students how navigate through the site on their own. Have students take notes on the material and write down questions they still have and topics that confuse them. They can do this with pen and paper or online. If you want the assignment online, explain to students they need to open a new tab in their browser window and take notes with a tool such as Memo Notepad, reviewed here; tell students to be sure to save the URL to share their notes and questions with you and their peers. Conclude this lesson by having small groups of students click on "Active Zone" and choose one of the creative, hands-on activities to bring into your classroom and demonstrate on an assigned day (they'll love the cream-filled cookie one!).
This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.
Seismic Monitor - NSF
Grades
6 to 12Keep track of earthquake activity with this near-real time monitor. Earthquakes with magnitudes of 4.0 or greater are shown as colored circles on the interactive map. Visitors can even...more
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Keep track of earthquake activity with this near-real time monitor. Earthquakes with magnitudes of 4.0 or greater are shown as colored circles on the interactive map. Visitors can even go back in time and view all global earthquake activity over the past five years. The USGS National Earthquake Information Center is the main source for the seismic data on this site. Check out the Education Links on the bottom menu that include lesson plans and resources for teachers.
tag(s): earth (183), earthquakes (47), sun (69), tsunamis (15), volcanoes (55)
Earthquake Resources for Teachers - USGS
Grades
4 to 9This meta-site from the USGS offers teachers a direct link to resources on earthquakes, faults, plate tectonics, and other scientific aspects of earthquakes and earthquake prediction....more
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This meta-site from the USGS offers teachers a direct link to resources on earthquakes, faults, plate tectonics, and other scientific aspects of earthquakes and earthquake prediction. Though the grade levels and quality of these vary, the collection itself makes a nice resource for teachers who need to assemble a number of sources quickly.
tag(s): earth (183), earthquakes (47), geology (62), plate tectonics (23)
In the Classroom
Introduce this site to your students on an interactive whiteboard or with a projector. Go through the basics about earthquakes then set up a Padlet, reviewed here for students to rotate through the rest of the material on this site. Require that all students go through some of the links. Some of the material can be free choice by students or skipped according to their interest.Earthquakes for Kids - USGS
Grades
4 to 8The US Geological Survey offers this page full of information about earthquakes, earthquake monitoring, and earthquake safety. The site includes several features that offer real-time...more
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The US Geological Survey offers this page full of information about earthquakes, earthquake monitoring, and earthquake safety. The site includes several features that offer real-time reporting data. While there's lots of information here for any student, we suspect this page will be of particular interest to students living in earthquake-prone areas.
tag(s): earth (183), earthquakes (47)