Activities

1. Initial Ideas
   1. Using the maps provided by your teacher answer the following questions:
      1. Where are the highest areas on earth?
      2. Where are mountain ranges mostly found?
      3. Where are the lowest places on Earth?
      4. Do you notice any patterns?
      5. Try to divide the Earth's surface into pieces.
2. Activities: Class groups are going to be divided into the following plates:
   1. North American
   2. South American
   3. Pacific
   4. Indian and Australian
   5. African
   6. Arabian
   7. Cocos/Nazca/Caribbean
   8. Eurasian
   9. Antarctic (optional)
3. Handouts:

4. Plot the longitude and latitude of any and all earthquakes that happen near, on, or in your plate boundary. You will do this for two to three weeks.

   1. What is the relationship between where most earthquakes occur and locations of the tectonic plate boundaries?
5. Map both active and inactive volcanoes around the world just like you did with the earthquakes.
   1. What is the relationship between active volcanoes and locations of the tectonic plate boundaries?
   2. What is the relationship of the volcanoes to earthquakes?
6. As your group collects information about your plate areas, study the background and effects of earthquakes. Use the resources on this webpage to find more information about earthquakes and volcanoes.
   1. Has an earthquake ever occurred in your area?
   2. Look at great earthquakes of the past. When and where have they occurred?
   3. How does this information relate to tectonic activity in those areas?
7. Read about the structure of a volcano, including the dynamics of how volcanoes erupt. Explore the sites related to the active volcanoes in Hawaii. Use the photos to increase comprehension about the structure and nature of volcanoes. (Resources)
8. Once your group has two to three weeks worth of earthquakes plotted and active and non-active volcanoes plotted, review the topography maps. Your teacher will also give you geochronology maps. Do the following:

   1. Draw and define the plate boundary types on your plate.
9. Students will prepare a classroom presentation on their plate boundary types.
10. Motion of plates.

    1. Do you think it's possible to infer the motion of the plate boundaries? Please explain your reasoning.
    2. If your plate is moving, do you think you can infer the direction it is moving? Please explain your reasoning.
    3. Draw arrows on your plate that show the direction you think your plate is moving.
11. Extension Activities:
    1. Teams will be creating a website to share what you learned through your research.
    2. Use the class's set of websites to piece together information about active areas of the world and how these areas relate to one another. Discuss the dynamic nature of the earth's crust.

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USGS National Earthquake Information Center:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/

Volcano World - Volcanoes by Region:
http://volcano.oregonstate.edu/volcanoes/index.html

Volcano Gallery:
http://volcanogallery.com/volcano_steamvent.htm

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park:
http://www.hawaii.volcanoes.national-park.com/how.htm

Plate Tectonics Maps and links
http://www.csd49.org/cms/classpages/plate_tectonics.htm

Links to Earthquakes and Volcanoes sites
http://www.csd49.org/cms/classpages/sci_links.html#rocks

Earthquake Recovery:
http://www.homeadvisor.com/article.show.Earthquake-Recovery-Resource-Guide.17321.html

Earthquake Education Resources: http://education.usgs.gov/

Disaster Recovery Training: http://etraintoday.com/about-us/disaster-recovery/

Family Safety During Earthquakes: http://safesoundfamily.com/p/keeping-your-family-safe-during-an-earthquake/

Can Earthquakes be predicted? http://www.earthquakes.bgs.ac.uk/education/faqs/faq19.html

(Thanks to Lindsey Weiss and students for the broken link report and for the extra resources!)

How to Prepare for a Winter Storm

Disaster Preparedness for Livestock 

Earthquake Proof Your Home: How to Prepare Your Home and Property for an Earthquake

Hurricane Safety Checklists

Storm Spotting for Children: At-Home Meterology

(Thanks to Patricia Sarmiento from the Public Health Corps for the above links!)

From Natalie Kelly, "In 2018, the US suffered through $91 billion in damage from disaster. With so much at stake and so many displaced, we’re working to spread information that will help communities pick up the pieces, when the danger has passed. Given your work, I know you’ll agree it’s just as important to help folks get back on their feet. I recently found some resources:"

Rebuilding Your Credit
Rebuilding After Disaster: Do you Stay or Leave
Disaster Recovery: Getting the Most from Your Homeowners Insurance
Buying or Selling a Car After a Disaster
Salvaging Possession and Valuables After Disaster
Picking up the Pieces After Disaster

More from Natalie Kelly, "From SNOVID in Texas to wildfires in California, 2020 was the costliest disaster year on record tallying $95 billion from 22 separate billion-dollar events. I’m sure you’ll agree our communities have enough to worry about and we need to support each other as much as possible. I found these cool printable resources that might lighten the load."

Generator Maintenance Checklist
The Complete Car Emergency Kit List
Important Documents for Emergency Preparedness
Emergency Preparedness Guide and Checklist [Download]

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Assessment

Students should be assessed not only on the generalizations they make, but also on their ability to succinctly and accurately convey the information about their geographic area. Before assigning the multimedia presentation, clearly outline the expectations for the presentation, including format and content. Because the content objectives should align with the grade-level objectives, specific objectives and assessment guidelines are not provided here. However, a scoring rubric should be created for the presentation that includes the degree to which content objectives and other lesson objectives are met.

Extension Activity: Students will help create the rubric to score the content of their websites. The storyboard rubric and website rubric will also be used.

Here are the required elements that students came up with in class.

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