Lesson Plan Template

Subject: Earthquakes Date: 22 April 2017

Teacher: Ms. Corina Ramirez School: CSUDH

1. Objective:
 Students will learn about earthquakes and what contributes to them
2. Learning Target:
 Students will learn the terms associated with earthquakes
o Compression – a stress that squeezes rocks together resulting from forces
applied perpendicular to a fault plane
o Hypocenter – the point within the Earth’s crust where an earthquake begins;
also, commonly termed the focus
o Earthquake – the shaking or vibration of the ground surface in response to the
sudden release of energy caused by fault movement
o Epicenter – the point on the Earth’s surface vertically above the hypocenter
o Fault – a fracture in the Earth’s crust where one side moves relative to the other
o Fault Plane – the flat (planar) surface along which there is movement during an
earthquake
o Foot Wall – a block of crust that is located above the fault plane
o Shear – a stress that moves rock in opposite directions resulting from forces
applied parallel to a fault plane
o Tectonic Plates – the rigid, thin, irregularly-shaped slabs of solid rock that
move relative to one another on the outer surface of the Earth
o Tension – a stress that pulls rocks apart resulting from forces applied
perpendicular to a fault plane
 Students will learn the layers of the Earth to have a better understanding of how
tectonic plates
o Layers: Inner core, outer core, mantle, and crust.
o Tectonic plates are pieces of the lithosphere that float on the more fluid
asthenosphere below.
 Students will learn the three different types of faults
o Reverse Fault – a fracture in the Earth’s crust where the hanging wall moves up
relative to the foot wall
o Normal Fault – a fracture in the Earth’s crust where the hanging wall moves
down relative to the foot wall
o Strike-Slip Fault – a fracture in the Earth’s crust where two blocks of crust
move laterally relative to one another
 Students will learn the different types of earthquakes
o A tectonic earthquake is one that occurs when the earth's crust breaks due to
geological forces on rocks and adjoining plates that cause physical and chemical
changes.
o A volcanic earthquake is any earthquake that results from tectonic forces which
occur in conjunction with volcanic activity.
o A collapse earthquake are small earthquakes in underground caverns and mines
 that are caused by seismic waves produced from the explosion of rock on the
surface.
o An explosion earthquake is an earthquake that is the result of the detonation of
a nuclear and/or chemical device.
3. Relevance/Rationale:
 It is important to study earthquakes because we need to know their causes and
predict where and when they are likely to happen.

4. Formative Assessment Criteria for success:

 Students will be assessed by a short quiz containing the following questions:

Question 1:

Answer:

Question 2:

Answer:

Question 3:

Answer:
Question 4:

Answer:

Question 5:

Answer:
5. Activities/Tasks:
 Students will complete this activity in a group setting
 Teacher will:
1. Discuss earthquakes with students.
2. Break the class into three groups and give each group a length of string. Have
them pretend that the string is a fault.
3. Have one student hold each end of the string and have one assigned to "be the
earthquake".
4. Explain that during an earthquake the whole fault doesn't move at once, but it
unzips like a zipper.
5. Have the student that is being the earthquake put their thumb and forefinger
on the rope and slowly walk the length of the rope.
6. The other students in the group should "experience the earthquake" by shaking
or jumping up and down from the time the person that is the earthquake starts
walking until the time they stop. (This should be done on the playground or in
the gym where noise won't be a problem.)
7. After each group has practiced have them observe each other.
8. Explain that each point on the fault that moves releases energy in the form of
waves, which we feel as shaking. So the longer the fault, the more energy that
is released, and the larger the magnitude of the earthquake.
6. Resources/Materials:

 Three pieces of string or rope that are of different lengths. Suggested lengths: 2
ft., 10 ft., and 20 ft.