Introduction

Earthquakes are one of the most powerful natural forces that can disrupt daily lives. Through careful study, geologists working with cartographers, geographers and historians are slowly learning more about such questions as these: Why do earthquakes occur? Why do some locations such as California and Japan receive so many earthquakes? Can earthquakes be predicted? Can we design a city to better withstand an earthquake? Can we stop earthquakes before they occur? Should we try?

In an earthquake the ground rumbles, hanging lamps begin to sway back and forth, shelves begin to rattle or spill their contents, the floor and walls shake. Even if you do not remember seeing or feeling an earthquake, you have probably lived through thousands of tiny earthquakes during your lifetime. The earth is constantly creating earthquakes.

An earthquake is the shaking of the earth caused by pieces of the crust of the Earth that suddenly shift. The crust, the thin outer layer, is mostly cold and brittle rock compared to the hot rock deeper inside. This crust is full of large and small cracks called faults. Although these faults can be hundreds of miles long, usually you cannot see the cracks because they are buried deep underground and because the pieces of crust are compressed together very tightly. The powerful forces that compress these crustal pieces also cause them to move very slowly. When two pieces that are next to each other get pushed in different directions, they will stick together for a long time (many years), but eventually the forces pushing on them will force them to break apart and move. This sudden shift in the rock shakes all of the rock around it. These vibrations, called seismic waves, travel outward in all directions and are called an earthquake. The underground location where the rock first broke apart or shifted is called the focus of the earthquake.

Content Area and Grade

This Earthquake WebQuest is designed for a middle grade social studies class. It has been designed for a social studies unit in grade 6. This unit on earthquakes will last approximately 7-10 days. This unit was designed with such flexibility that it can easily be adjusted for grades 3-9 and could be used in many connection subject areas.

The Quest and Tennessee Curriculum Standards

This WebQuest addresses 6th through 8th grade social studies skills taken from The Tennessee Curriculum Framework.

http://www.state.tn.us/education/cicurframwkmain.htm

Tennessee Social Studies Geography Standards 1, 2, 3, and 5

Standard 1:

Students will be able to use maps, globes, and other
geographic representations,tools, and technologies to
acquire, process, and report information from a
spatial perspective.

Objectives:

Demonstrate how to use maps and other geographic tools and techniques to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective.

Analyze the spatial organization of people, places, and environments on the Earth's surface.

Standard 2:

Students will demonstrate a basic geographic
knowledge through identifying and locating major
physical and political features on globes and maps.

Objectives:

Explain the creation of political regions as a way to interpret the Earth's complexities.

Standard 3:

Students will identify and show an understanding of
the major physical characteristics of places and
regions of the world

Objectives:

Understand the physical processes that shape the patterns of Earth's surface.

Analyze the characteristics and spatial distribution of ecosystems on Earth's surface.

Standard 5:

Students will exhibit an understanding of the dynamic
interaction between human and physical systems
around the world.

Objectives:

Explain how human actions modify the physical environment.

Explore how physical systems affect the development of human systems.

These standards may be found at the following URL:

http://www.state.tn.us/education/ci/ciss68intro.htm and

objectives may be found at the fololwing URL:

http://www.state.tn.us/education/ci/ciss68.htm#j

Fault line info and other information provided to create a knowledge base on earthquakes.-
http://wwwneic.cr.usgs.gov/neis/general/handouts/faq.html

http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/more/eqfaq.html

http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/text/tectonics.html

http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/

Several concepts will be presented during this WebQuest:

Locate current earthquakes

Develop and expand vocabulary and a base knowledge of earthquakes

Study earthquakes that have occurred

Look for patterns in earthquakes

Predict future earthquakes

When finished learning about these concepts, you will use your knowledge and construct clay models to study folds and faults in the Earth's surface.
http://www.minnetonka.k12.mn.us/support/science/lessons45/folding.html

The Process

Students' jobs in this WebQuest are to participate in a classroom team through fun , exploration ,learning , scientific discovery and analysis of the five themes of geography. Each group will complete the tasks and learn about earthquakes by fulfilling a particular role and meeting certain responsibilities. The hyperlinked teacher sites will provide still more information, direction, and lesson plans that will enable the teacher to facilitate this project successfully. The teacher begins by ensuring that everyone gains background information on earthquakes. The teacher will become knowledgeable on the subject, read the provided materials carefully, be motivated, and study available links in order to plan effectively to assist teams of students to eventually build a model of earth faults. Students will go to student page, follow directions for each day, choose a role and meet the required responsibilities, and work within the group and as an individual to meet the desired objectives.

Teacher Resources for Earthquakes

Lesson Plans for teaching about Earthquakes

Earthquake Country lessons

More Lessons that could be used with Earthquake instruction

National Earthquake Information Center

Earthquake Activities

Virtual Earthquake

Hands On Earthquake Activity

Earthquake Lessons

Assessment

Use the assessment link to get to the rubric to access theobjectives of this WebQuest.

Here are questions to ask students about their written narratives:

Ask students to talk about the experience of writing the accounts. Ask:

Did you feel you had enough information to do the job in each case?
Did some of you wish you knew more? Is there anything specific you'd like to find out?
Was one point of view more comfortable than the others? Were some accounts easier to write?

Discuss the validity of the different points of view. Emphasize that each kind of account is valuable in its own right.