The Fracking pcMEL

Below are links to resources that will help students use the Fracking pcMEL and learn more about fundamental scientific principles related to this issue.

Overview

This article provides an introduction to the Fracking pcMEL plus suggestions from classroom use including management tips and specific areas in which students might have difficulties and suggestions for assisting students with their understanding, such as providing additional background information and hands-on investigations.

Evaluating the Connections Between Fracking and Earthquakes TES (Acrobat (PDF) 1019kB Jun4 18)

Next Generation Science Standards Performance Expectations

MS-ESS2-5: Earth's Systems

• Develop a model describing the cycling of water through Earth's systems driven by energy from the sun and the force of gravity.

HS-ESS2-5: Earth's Systems

• Plan and conduct an investigation of the properties of water and its effects on Earth materials and surface processes.

MS-ETS1-1: Engineering Design

• Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.

HS-ETS1-3: Engineering Design

• Evaluate a solution to a complex real-world problem based on prioritized criteria and trade-offs that account for a range of constraints, including cost, safety, reliability, and aesthetics as well as possible social, cultural, and environmental impacts.

HS-ESS3-2: Earth and Human Activity

• Evaluate competing design solutions for developing, managing, and utilizing energy and mineral resources based on cost-benefit ratios.

HS-ESS3-4: Earth and Human Activity

• Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human activities on natural systems.

The Models

Model A: The increase in moderate magnitude earthquakes in the Midwest is caused by fracking for fossil fuels.
Model B: The increase in moderate magnitude earthquakes in the Midwest is caused by normal tectonic plate motion.

Student Handouts

• Fracking pcMEL Model Plausibility Ratings (Acrobat (PDF) 181kB Jul10 25)
• Fracking pcMEL Diagram (Acrobat (PDF) 183kB Jul10 25)
• Explanation Task (Acrobat (PDF) 52kB May6 24)

Lines of Evidence

Evidence #1: Wastewater injected into the ground changes the stress in Earth's crust.
Evidence #2: During recent years, the number of earthquakes near fracking sites was 11 times higher than the 30-year average.
Evidence #3: Convection of hot but solid and ductile rocks in the upper mantle creates stresses in Earth's crust. These stresses cause Earth's crust to fracture.
Evidence #4: Many earthquakes are currently occurring in regions surrounding fracking sites.

Student Handouts

• Fracking pcMEL – Evidence Texts Color (Acrobat (PDF) 955kB Jul9 24)
• Fracking pcMEL – Evidence Texts BW (Acrobat (PDF) 627kB Jul9 24)

When the Fracking MEL was first introduced to the students, it was became clear that the geologic processes involved in fracking were unfamiliar to most. This introductory background reading was developed to assist students.

• Introduction to Fossil Fuel Drilling and Fracking (Acrobat (PDF) 1.9MB Jul9 24)

Other Resources

This Plausibility Ranking Task (PRT), which may be completed prior to using any MELs, helps students to understand the role of evidence in supporting or refuting models.

• Plausibility Ranking Task (Acrobat (PDF) 76kB May6 24)

Virtual MEL

*NOTE: The virtual materials below are from an older version of the activity than what is posted above.

The Google Drive folder below contains MEL resource documents in the Google formats. In order to maximize the flexibility of our activities, the MEL Project Team wanted to make more resources compatible with virtual settings. We have made our MEL scaffolds available in Google formats, so that they can be copied, modified, and uploaded more easily on a variety of platforms and devices. Please note that to access all the materials for each MEL scaffold, you will need a Google account. View the README file first.

• README First Instructions & FAQ (Acrobat (PDF) 70kB May24 21)
• Virtual Fracking MEL Resource Documents in Google Drive

Digital Resources

This this USGS Evening Public Lecture, Yes. Humans Really Are Causing Induced Earthquakes, Dr. Justin Rubinstein shares what we know about induced earthquakes, the increased seismic activity in Oklahoma and how fracking and wastewater injection affect the surrounding subsurface layers.

This Oklahoma Earthquake Animation is from the USGS public lecture above.

In this lab, Induced Seismicity – Are humans causing earthquakes?, from the NSF-funded EarthScope Consortium students investigate the processes involved in unconventional oil and gas resource production, i.e. hydraulic fracturing. Using the IRIS Earthquake browser, they conduct a detailed comparison of hydrofracking wells, waste water disposal wells, and seismicity in Oklahoma. They look for correlations in the data and use evidence from their investigation to support their claims.

Myths and Misconceptions About Induced Earthquakes from Dr. Justin Rubinstein at the USGS shares six facts about induced earthquakes.

Induced Earthquakes from the USGS provides current research on induced earthquakes due to human activities, sharing observations, modeling, and hazard estimation.

This map and bar graph displays the annual number of earthquakes with a magnitude of 3.0 or larger in the central and eastern United States, 1973–2023. The long-term rate of approximately 25 earthquakes per year increased sharply starting around 2009.

A Stanford study finds that the recent spike in triggered earthquakes in Oklahoma is primarily due to the injection of wastewater produced during oil production – but not from fracking.

Oklahoma's Shaky Ground tamed by industry, regulatory cooperation describes how the Oklahoma Corporation Commission and the Oklahoma Geological Survey collaborated with industry to regulate wastewater disposal wells, leading to a significant reduction in the number of induced earthquakes.