Background:
The Earthquake Country Los Angeles Online kit is inspired by the Earthquake Country Los Angeles Video and Curriculum kit. To learn more information about the Video and Curriculum kit please click here.

Overview:
The goal of this online kit is to teach students why earthquakes occur, why it is difficult to predict them and most importantly what they can do to protect themselves and their family from an earthquake.

The lesson plans in this kit range from plate tectonics, seismic waves, and earthquake predictability to creating an earthquake preparedness plan. They are designed for grades 5-8 but can be adapted for grades 9-12. Each lesson can be completed in one or two 45 minute class periods.

The last lesson, Earthquake Preparedness, may require more than two class periods to allow time for all students to share their earthquake preparedness plan with the class.

Recognizing that science educators must align their lessons with academic content standards, each lesson is aligned with the California Science Content Standards. For a list of the California Science Content Standards click here.

Requirements:
To access the lesson plans you will need to have adobe acrobat reader installed on your computer. Some of the videos may also require flash. You can download both for free on www.adobe.com.

Click Here to Download Adobe Reader.

Click Here to Download Adobe Flash Player.

Lessons

Lesson 1. Introduction to Earthquakes
Students write down their ideas and thoughts about earthquakes prior to watching a short video on earthquakes.

Lesson 2. Plate Tectonics
Students learn about plate tectonics in fun interactive ways through plate puzzles, and candy tectonics.

Lesson 3. Plotting Earthquake Epicenters
Students learn where earthquakes occur and how to plot earthquake epicenters in addition to learning about longitude and latitude.

Lesson 4. Seismic Waves and the Slinky
Students learn about Seismic Waves with a slinky and human demonstration of how waves work.

Lesson 5. Earthquake Predictability
Students learn the difficulty of predicting when an earthquake will occur after having the opportunity to use an earthquake machine.

Lesson 6. Earthquake Preparedness
Students design and share their own earthquake preparedness plan after watching several videos on earthquake safety.

Material from the Putting Down Roots in Earthquake Country handbook may be incorporated into the lessons above at any time. To request a free class set of Putting Down Roots in Earthquake Country, click here.

To order the spanish version Echando Raíces en Tierra de Terremotos, click here.