Earthquake Formation: Crust, Plates, Currents, Drift and Faults
Students learn about the structure of the earth and how an earthquake happens. In one activity, students make a model of the earth including all of its layers. In a teacher-led demonstration, students learn about continental drift. In another activity, students create models demonstrating the different types of faults.
Figure 1. Earthquake damage to a house.Copyright https://www.flickr.com/photos/martinluff/5475631631
Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Engineers need to thoroughly understand the processes that shape the Earth so they can design structures (schools, hospitals, bridges, etc.) that are able to withstand natural disasters, such as earthquakes, volcanoes and hurricanes. In addition to designing sturdy, resilient structures, engineers also develop detection devices that help predict earthquakes and tsunamis, as a way to warn people before catastrophes occur. Together, these technologies minimize the number of injuries and casualties that might result.
After this lesson, students should be able to:
- Know and understand the processes and interactions of Earth's systems and the structure and dynamics of Earth.
- Identify major features of Earth's surface that lead to earthquake development.
- Explain the distribution and causes of earthquakes that shape/change the Earth.
- Understand why engineers need to learn about the Earth's structure.
- Identify cause-effect relationships involved in earthquakes.
- Know and understand interrelationships among science, technology and human activity and how they can affect the world.
- Identify careers that involve science and technology.