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USC ReadersPlus
Earthquakes
AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAM
GRADE: 2/3
TIME: 5 one hour lessons
THEME: Earthquakes #1
DAY 1 & 2 – Earthquake Myths
Introduction: Have students write down what they know about earthquakes. This will be
important for you over the next two weeks because it will let you know of preconceived
notions and misconceptions that you will need to dispel.
Activity: Give each student a myth from another culture. Explain that these are stories
people created to explain earthquakes. Touch upon the difference between myths and
facts. Have students illustrate the stories and share them with the rest of the group. There
are copies of the myths in the ReadersPlus office and Tremor Troops online, page 21, 22,
232-243
Extension: Have each student write their own earthquake myth to explain why there are
earthquakes. If they finish early they can then illustrate their own story.
DAY 2 & 3 – Earth’s Interior
Introduction: Show the students a drawing of the layers of the earth, telling them that
they are going to create a human model of the different layers of the earth. Have one
student be the inner core flexing their muscles – this represents that the inner core is very
dense and made mostly of iron. Have 3 students surround the “inner core” to make the
outer core. They should face inward and walk counterclockwise around the inner core
while holding their arms out to the side, waving them up and down – this represents that
the outer core is liquid and moving. Have 6 students be the mantle, in a circle around the
outer core, and chant “hot rock, hot rock”. Have 8 students as the asthenosphere,
surrounding the mantle, swaying back and forth. Finally have 12 students act as the
lithosphere, in a circle facing outwards around everyone. Have them slowly walk around
the group chanting “moving plates, moving plates”.
Activity: Take students on a journey to the center of the earth. There is a script for the
“tour guide” to read as the group makes stops at different layers in the earth. This activity
gives the students a perspective of the scale of the different layers within the earth.
Everything you need to do this can be found online.
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for Table 1. use the 1:100,000 scale, because it has more of an impact for the
students)
If you cannot mark out the playground with chalk or tape, you can use a ball of
yarn instead, and mark with ties the different layers and stops.
Even though it takes a while, I would make the hats, the kids like them, and it
makes the trip feel more realistic
Conclusion: Back at the earth’s surface have students write a few sentences about their
favorite stop on the journey, and why that layer is important.
DAY 4 – Tectonic Plates Puzzle
Key Points:
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The earth’s lithosphere (crust and uppermost mantle) is mae up of individual
plates like puzzle pieces
Most plates contain both ocean and continent, but most are dominated by one or
the other
We live on the Pacific Plate
The plates are always slowly moving
The plates can move towards each other (convergent boundary), away from each
other (divergent boundary), or slide past each other (transform boundary)
Materials:
Each student will need:
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crayons, colored pencils or markers
scissors
glue
3 pages of plate map and pieces
Activity:
Students color in the plates, making each plate a different color. Not each piece is a plate
– some pieces are several plates, and some plates are split into two pieces because they
are at the edge of the map. This provides an opportunity to discuss with the students that
the earth is round, but maps are flat, so things have to be done on maps so that they can
represent the earth. Students will then cut out the plate pieces and place them onto the
map. Students should check with a Reader that their pieces are in the right place before
gluing them to the map.
Questions to ask students:
1. Do you think the plates were ever put together in a different way to make a
different puzzle?
2. Have the plates always been moving? Will they ever stop? What would happen if
they did stop?
3. What do you think causes the plates to move?
DAY 5 – Dynamic Plate Puzzle
All the necessary information is available at the website. You do not need to do the
preparation part – SCEC has map sets you can borrow.
The above website plan is designed for students at about the 6th grade level, so
adaptations are necessary for working with the younger students. However, with the
adaptations this can be a fun and engaging learning experience for the students.
Adaptations:
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Start by showing the students a copy of the whole map. Ask them if they notice
anything different about this map from other maps they have seem. (this map has
arrows with numbers, black dots, red triangles, pink lines, and is color-coded by
topography – they probably won’t get this last one, and that is okay, I wouldn’t
even bother mentioning it if they don’t). Ask them what they think the black dots,
red triangles, arrows and pink lines are (respectively: earthquakes, volcanoes,
plate velocity vectors and plate boundaries).
Tell the students that the map has been cut into pieces called plates. These pieces
are about 100km thick! They are each going to get their own piece (there are 18
pieces for each map, students can share the big pieces or you can split the students
into two groups and use two maps). Have them look at their piece, does it have
any black dots, red triangles, pink lines, or arrows?
Then have the students assemble the pieces – keep the whole map in a place for
them to use as a reference. They may try to put the edges together because they
are both straight, so you will have to help them with that. They will also need help
with the smaller pieces.
Give the students a chance to look at the assembled map, then ask them (don’t
take answers right away, give them time to look at the assembled map and really
think about their answers:
o Do they notice any patterns? YES Are the black dots and red triangles
everywhere or mostly in certain places? YES – they are located along the
edges of the pieces.
o Are there earthquakes everywhere they see volcanoes? How about
volcanoes everywhere they see earthquakes? Why? YES, NO, because
earthquakes occur along all plate boundaries, but volcanoes only happen
along special boundaries.
o How is their piece related to it’s neighbors?
The students may ask about the arrows. These are velocity vectors whose length
corresponds with how fast the plates are moving, and they point in the direction of
plate motion, the numbers are the plate’s velocity in mm/yr. This is too much for
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the 2nd graders!!! Just tell them the arrows point to where the plate is going and
that the bigger the arrow, the faster it is moving.
Using the Pacific Plate, model the different types of plate boundaries. Move the
plate in the direction of the arrows and look at what happens 1) along the west
coast of the US (sliding past the North American plate = transform boundary), 2)
up by Alaska or Asia (colliding/bumping into each other = convergent boundary),
3) the bottom of the plate (moving away = divergent boundary). The idea that
there are different ways for the plates to interact and what those ways are is more
important than remembering the specific names for the different types of
boundaries.
Ask the students to find other types of convergent, divergent and transform
boundaries on the map.
Point out that while many plate boundaries separate continent from ocean, some
plate boundaries go right through the middle of continents. Examples are Iceland
(divergent boundary), India/Asia (convergent boundary), and New Zealand
(transform boundary).
In step five under the procedure there are questions to generate discussion. The
following questions would be appropriate for the 2nd/3rd grade level: a, b, and c.