Earthquakes & Volcanoes

Standards - NGSS - Lesson Planning

Review the 5E- Model - Lesson Plan and complete the following activity using this form. 

Engage 

Why should I care about earthquakes and volcanoes? Enter answers on the form. 

(Engage-1)  Examine this earthquake fault map.   Estimate the distance between your school and the nearest fault. 

(Engage-2) How far away was the epicenter of the closest earthquake in the past 30-days from you school?

(Engage-3)   After reviewing this slideshow of a few Los Angeles area earthquakes, create a relevant scientific question.

Explore 

Determine patterns in the data that can be used to create models of seismic activity. Enter answers on the form. 

(Explore-1) Watch this video on how to plot events on a map  [6:56].    Plot the largest recent earthquakes on a  world map, and the largest volcanoes in a different layer.  Upload a link to your map. 

(Explore -2) What patterns do you see?  What things are correlated with earthquakes? volcanoes?

(Explore-3)  Download and complete this seismometer worksheet. Upload your completed worksheet.

Explain

Develop a model that explains the distribution of earthquakes and volcanoes and predicts where future events might occur. Enter answers on the form. 

(Explain-1) Login to your Desmos class and open the assigned "Identifying Earthquake Faults" activity.   Explain the factors you used to identify the earthquake faults. 

(Explain-2) Using Seismic explorer, plot earthquakes epicenters through time from 1984 to present. Create a screen capture of the final map.  Upload your screen capture showing a map of earthquake activity.

(Explain-3) Using Seismic explorer, map volcano eruptions through time from 1984 to present. Create a screen capture of the final map. Upload your screen capture showing a map of volcano activity.

(Explain-4)  Using Seismic explorer, compare the relationship of earthquake activity and volcanic eruptions with tectonic plate boundaries and plate movement.  Develop and share your model that explains the geographic patterns of earthquakes and volcanoes. 

Elaborate / Extend

Extend your model to explain other features associated with seismic activity. Enter answers on the form. 

(Elaborate-1) Complete the Earthquakes-2 Determining the epicenter worksheet by experimenting with the Epicenter Gizmo, which can be accessed through the link at the top of the worksheet (access code: R92X4WGDKT).  Provide a link to your finished worksheet in which you have determined the epicenter (point on the earth's surface directly above the focus of the earthquake). 

(Elaborate-2) Study this map which plots earthquakes (circles) and faults (lines).  Note that seismic events are generally associated with earthquake faults, however seismic events in west Texas and Oklahoma are outliers, occurring long distances from the nearest faults.  After consulting an AI-LLM tool , provide a possible explanation for these outliers.

Evaluate 

Develop an evaluation tool to assess understanding. Enter answers on the form.