A good earthquake activity for students is to have them find nearby fault lines.
According to the Federal Emergency Management Administration, 45 states and U.S. territories are vulnerable to the hazards of earthquakes and are at very high to moderate risk of damage from earthquakes. Teaching students about earthquakes is a good way to introduce them to geological science and technology. Learning how movement in the earth's crust can cause earthquakes and tremors can be a gateway to even more technical scientific discussions. It also allows the students to learn about emergency preparedness and how disaster relief efforts work.
Locate Nearby Fault Lines
Have your students research and locate fault lines in their area. The United States Geological Survey is a good resource. Have them take a map of their area and draw in the fault lines. For added research, have them make a report about recent earthquakes and tremors that have occurred in their area. Have them also describe the frequency of various types of earthquakes and what factors go into the prediction of future earthquakes.
Earthquake Preparedness
Task the students to create a list of steps that should be taken to prepare for an earthquake. Have them include a list of emergency supplies, evacuation routes, emergency contact and disaster relief information. They should include a detailed list of the steps that can be taken to protect themselves in the event of an earthquake and list the kind of supplies that should be on hand at all times.
Seismic Activity Research
Teach the students about how plate tectonics on the Earth play a part in earthquakes. Instruct the students identify P & S waves (primary and secondary seismic waves), along with what the travel time curve is and what it represents. Supply them with their own seismogram data. Have them take that information and identify the P & S waves on their seismograms, then use that data to determine the difference in the time between the waves. They should also be able to locate the epicenter and how far way it was from the local seismic activity station as well as locate the station using latitude and longitude coordinates.
Historical Earthquakes
Have the students choose randomly or assign to them reports to do on historical earthquakes, such as the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the 1920 Haiyuan earthquake, the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Have them supply all of the geological information, such as latitude and longitude of the seismic center, magnitude, fatalities and relief efforts as well as related graphical data and photos in their reports.
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