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Dr. Christie's STEM Course: Earth and Space

Sample Middle School Unit: Earthquakes

Essential/Guiding Questions

Earthquakes are one of the earth forces that change the earth daily. In this unit, we will answer the following questions:

• What are earthquakes?
• What causes earthquakes?
• How are earthquakes traced and measured?
• What were the most well-known earthquakes and why were they famous/infamous?
• How do earthquakes change the earth's surface and why is this important to humans?

Standards: AZ Earth and Space, Grade 7

Stand 6: Earth and Space Science

Concept 1: Structure of the Earth

• PO 2: Describe the properties and composition of the earth's crust, mantle, and core
• PO 3: Explain processes involved in the formation of the earth's structure

Concept 2: Earth's Processes and Systems

• PO 3: Analyze the evidence that lithosphere plate movements occur
• PO 4: Explain lithospheric plate movements
• PO 6: Describe how earthquakes are measured

Adaptive Curriculum Activity Objects Used

• Earthquakes: Measuring Magnitude
• Earthquake! Where Was It

Timeline for the Unit

This timeline for this three-week unit is outlined below.

Introduction

Earthforce is the pushing and pulling in the core, crust, or water of the Earth that causes motion like eruptions, earthquakes, or floods. Earthforces are constantly at work. Every day, somewhere, the core, crust, or water is pushing and pulling and causing motion. Earth is called a restless planet as it is continually influenced by the sun, gravitational forces, processes emanating from deep within the core, and by complex interactions with oceans and atmospheres. Changes can be quite dramatic (earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides) are seemingly unpredictable, and often leading to loss of life and property damage. View the Earthquake Animation that shows cumulative global earthquake occurrences from 1960 through 1995. Earthquakes are shown as yellow dots. Credit: NASA / Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio. Or view this Flash animation that shows the relationship between the earthquake focus and the earthquake epicenter found directly above the focus. Also displayed in the animation are the fault plane, fault scarp, and fault trace.

Earthquakes can be caused by two faults that meet or crash together. They are also caused by volcanic activity. The lava flow underneath the Earth's crust pushes up the ground, and pushes the lava out, causing mild, maybe even disastrous, earthquakes. Earthquakes cause disasters such as floods, fires, snow avalanches, rockslides and landslides that occasionally destroy buildings, highways and bridges and kill many people. The damage to buildings and highways due to earthquakes averages well over ten billion dollars each year.

When an earthquake's magnitude is less than 4.5, it is hardly felt. When an earthquake reaches a magnitude of 7.0 or greater, it is very disastrous. Since 1975, there have been more than 300 earthquakes with a magnitude of 7.0 or higher. The largest earthquake in the 1900's was recorded at 9.7 in Southern Chile in 1960. Sometimes the disasters that are caused by earthquakes are worse than the earthquakes themselves. In the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, more than five hundred blocks of city building burned to the ground within three days after the earthquake. Earthquakes are continuously rocking the earth. The USGS Earthquake Hazards Site is a comprehensive and reliable source of detailed information about earthquakes, past and present.

Earthquake Vocabulary

Refer to EarthQuake Vocabulary for explanation of terms.

Wordle Vocabulary Examples: Example 1 | Example 2

EduCaching Activity

• Introduction to GPS and Geocaching
• Dr. Alice Christie's GPS and Geocaching Resources
• Dr. Alice Christie's GPS and Geocaching Podcast
• Clues for EduCaching Activity

Google Earth Earthquake Resources

• Chile Earthquake Maps
• Chile Earthquake - Earthquake Locations
• Chile Earthquake - GeoTagged YouTube Videos
• Haiti Earthquake Imagery
• Haiti Earthquake Maps and Data
• Haiti Earthquake - Geotagged YouTube Videos
• Haiti Before and After Shots
• Real-time Earthquakes
• Magnitude 3+ Earthquakes from 1900 until Present
• Global Paleogeographic Views (Slow to load, but amazing to view once loaded)

Google Map and GoogleEarth Activity

• Google Earth Tours - Search by topic or use the navigation on the left to see specific tours in the following categories: Featured, Popular, Travel, Fun, 3D Buildings, Educational, Sky, and Ocean.
• Using Google Earth in K-12 Classrooms
• Hall Davidson: Staggeringly Good Things Integrating Media and Google Earth
  In this podcast, Davidon discusses GoogleEarth as a powerful tool for viewing geography and terrain.
• How Stuff Works: How GoogleEarth Works
• Google Earth
• Explore, Search, Discover: Google Earth in Action
• Download Google Earth
• Google Earth KMLs
• MeHere: a networked GPS tracker for Google Maps and Google Earth
  
• Dr. Christie's Using GoogleEarth in the K-12 Classroom
• Juicy Geography: Google Earth in the Classroom

Online Resources

What is a Fault?

• Quaternary Faults
• Quaternary Fault and Fold Database of the United States
• Every Place Has Its Faults

What Is An Earthquake?

• Earthquakes for Kids
• How Earthquakes Work
• Earthquake Science Explained:
  A Series of Ten Short Articles for Students, Teachers, and Families
• USGS Searchable Resource for Students and Teachers
• Animations for Earthquake Terms and Concepts
• Encyclopedia of Earth: Earthquake
• World Book at NASA: Earthquake
• Earthquake Powerpoint Presentation from USGA
• National Geographic Forces of Nature: Earthquakes (Explore the Lab, Map, and Case Studies)
• Geoscience Australia
  • What is an earthquake?
  • What causes earthquakes?
  • Where do earthquakes occur?
• Plate Tectonics, the Cause of Earthquakes
• Earthquakes Guide by the British Geological Survey
• Frequently Asked Questions About Earthquakes
• Earthquakes by Kaye M. Shedlock & Louis C. Pakiser: A general introduction to earthquakes
• Earthquake Glossary: Definitions of terms associated with earthquakes
• Earthquake Topics: Resources about earthquakes
• Berkeley Seismological Lab
  • Searchable earthquake catalog
• Interesting Earthquake Facts (These would make excellent educache clues)
• Do you have more questions about earthquakes? You can email your questions to:
  Ask-A-Geologist@usgs.gov

How Earthquakes Are Measured

• The Severity of an Earthquake: Understanding intensity and magnitude.
• Why Monitor Earthquakes? Earthquakes are a deadly natural hazard. Every week somewhere around the world, an earthquake occurs that's big enough to cause serious damage to people, roads and buildings.
• A Brief History of Seismology to 1910 (see all three pages)
• How a Seismograph Works: A Flash animation that first shows the arrival of seismic waves to a seismograph. Except for the immobile seismograph mass (heavy weight with pen) which does not move due to inertia, everything else shakes This includes the horizontal rotating drum upon which seismic waves will be recorded. The animation can be paused and rewound to show the arrival sequence of P, S, and surface waves.
• Seismic Design Maps and Tools for Engineers: Maps, data, and tools for engineers interested in seismic design of buildings and bridges.
• Custom Mapping and Seismic Analysis Tools
• Hazard Mapping Images and Data

Famous Earthquakes

• San Francisco
  • Panoramic Image of San Francisco After the Earthquake
  • The San Francisco Earthquake, 1906
  • San Francisco Virtual Museum: The Great 1906 Earthquake And Fire
  • San Francisco Virtual Museum: Southern Pacific Railroad and the 1906 Earthquake
  • San Francisco Virtual Museum: San Francisco Fire Department History of the Great Earthquake and Fire
  • San Francisco Virtual Museum: U.S. Navy Operations During the 1906 Earthquake and Fire
  • Ansel Adams and The San Francisco Earthquake
  • San Francisco Earthquake of 1906: Census Facts
• January 2010 Haiti Earthquake
  • Haiti Earthquake - Earthquake and Aftershocks Map
  • Time for Kids: An Earthquake Shakes Haiti
  • Time for Kids: Lending a Hand
    Here are some ways you can help the earthquake victims in Haiti
  • Seismic Interpretation of the Haiti Earthquake

Tracking Earthquakes in Real-Time

• World-Wide Earthquake Locator
• Environmental Science In the News
• Earthquakes: Past, present, Future
• US Earthquake Information by State
  • Arizona Earthquake Information
• World Earthquake Information by Country/Region
• Today in Earthquake History

Maps of Major Worldwide Earthquakes

• Northern California
• USA
• Latest Earthquakes in the World - Past 7 days
• USGS Earthquake Maps

Google Earth Maps

• ShakeMaps
• Quaternary Faults in Google Earth
• Bay Area Geologic Maps in Google Earth
• Virtual Tour of the 1868 Hayward Earthquake in Google Earth
• Virtual Tour of the 1906 Earthquake in Google Earth
• Active Traces of the Hayward Fault
• San Francisco Bay Region Geology and Faults Geologic Maps
• San Francisco Bay Region Geology and FaultsQuaternary Faults
• Largest Earthquakes in the World Since 1900

Google Earth KML Files

• Real-Time Earthquakes by Age
• Real-Time Earthquakes by Depth
• Northern California Hillshades
• Largest Earthquakes in the World Since 1900

Earthquake Movies and Photos

• Earthquake Photo Collections
• USGS Earthquake Videos
• Earthquake Destruction
• Southern California Earthquake Center (shorten)
• Seattle, Washington: Security cameras at three locations recorded activity before, during, and after an earthquake.
• Rare Earthquake Hits Haiti (remove add)
• NATURE | Can Animals Predict Disaster? | Earthquakes | PBS
• Physical Geography - Forces that Shape Our Earth
• Savage Earth: PBS Video: The Restless Planet: EarthQuakes

Career Options

• Current Research Projects:
  • Borehole Geophysics and Rock Mechanics
    Using borehole geophysical measurements in conjunction with laboratory studies, scientists study heat flow, stress, fluid pressure, and the mechanical behavior of fault-zone materials at seismogenic depths to yield improved models of the earthquake cycle.
  • Earthquake Geology & Paleoseismology
    Earthquake geology in the broad sense is the study of the history, effects, and mechanics of earthquakes within and on the Earth's crust.
  • Regional & Whole-Earth Structure
    Seismic waves from earthquakes, man-made sources both local and distant, computer generated simulations and geophysical surveys are used to determine local, crustal, mantle and core structures of the earth.
  • Strong-motion Seismology, Site Response & Ground Motion
    Strong motion seismology uses special sensors, called accelerometers, to record large-amplitude ground motions and the response of engineered structures to these motions.

Interactive Resources

• Cornel University: Discover Our Earth

Teacher Resources

• USGS and Science Education
• Environmental Science
• USGS Earthquake ABC
  • Earthquake ABC Book created by Paula Rao School's 2nd and 3rd grade class in Pasadena, California
  • Earthquake ABC Book A Parent's Guide to Earthquakes
  • Earthquake ABC Guide For Elementary School Teachers
• Mark Twain and the October 8, 1865, San Francisco Earthquake
• National Geographic Map Machine