Teaching Activities
Earth education activities from across all of the sites within the Teach the Earth portal.
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Online Readiness
Resource Type: Activities
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- Natural Hazards 13 matches
Environmental Science
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- Educational Materials 13 matches
EarthScope ANGLE
Results 1 - 10 of 13 matches
Getting Started with the ShakeNet Data Portal part of EarthScope ANGLE:Educational Materials:Activities
Jennifer Pickering
Teacher guide and tutorial for using the RaspberryShake ShakeNet data portal.
Resource Type: Activities: Activities:Lab Activity, Classroom Activity
Subject: Geoscience, Geology:Geophysics:Seismology, Environmental Science:Natural Hazards, Natural Hazards:Earthquakes
Activity Review: Passed Peer Review
Earthquake Intensity part of EarthScope ANGLE:Educational Materials:Activities
Jennifer Pickering
Introductory lesson that compares ShakeMaps between earthquakes in the same location but different magnitudes, and earthquakes of the same magnitude but different depths, to acquaint learners to the fundamental controls on intensity of shaking felt during an event: magnitude and distance from the earthquake source.
Resource Type: Activities: Activities:Classroom Activity
Subject: Geoscience:Geology:Geophysics:Seismology, Environmental Science:Natural Hazards:Earthquakes, Geoscience, Environmental Science:Natural Hazards, Geoscience:Geology:Tectonics
Activity Review: Passed Peer Review
Reading an Earthquake Seismogram part of EarthScope ANGLE:Educational Materials:Activities
Jennifer Pickering
Introductory lesson that deconstructs the information that can be gleaned from a single seismogram.
Resource Type: Activities: Activities:Classroom Activity, Lab Activity
Subject: Geoscience:Geology:Tectonics, Environmental Science:Natural Hazards:Earthquakes, Environmental Science:Natural Hazards, Geoscience:Geology:Geophysics:Seismology, Geoscience
Activity Review: Passed Peer Review
Understanding Earthquakes: Comparing seismograms part of EarthScope ANGLE:Educational Materials:Activities
Jennifer Pickering
Introductory lesson that contextualizes how multiple instruments provide a more complete picture on an event.
Resource Type: Activities: Activities:Lab Activity, Classroom Activity
Subject: Environmental Science:Natural Hazards:Earthquakes, Environmental Science:Natural Hazards, Geoscience, Geology:Geophysics:Seismology
Activity Review: Passed Peer Review
"We Need All the Assistance You Have..." part of EarthScope ANGLE:Educational Materials:Activities
USGS (US Geological Survey)
This exercise provides a basic introduction to volcanic hazards. Students learn about different types of volcanic hazards through researching examples from Alaskan eruptions. They also group the hazards as proximal and distal to consider how emergency response plans might differ. A recording of the KLM flight 867 flight that lost power to all four engines when it flew into an ash cloud from a 1989 Mt Redoubt eruption provides a compelling example of risk from volcanoes. (Note: the plane was ultimately able to regain enough power to land safely in Anchorage.) Students learn about the Volcano Hazards Alert-Notification System for both ground-based and aviation applications.
Resource Type: Activities: Activities:Classroom Activity, Outreach Activity, Lab Activity
Subject: Environmental Science:Natural Hazards, Natural Hazards:Volcanism, Geoscience
Activity Review: Passed Peer Review
Pasta Quake: Exploring Earthquake Magnitude part of EarthScope ANGLE:Educational Materials:Activities
Paul Doherty (Exploratorium Teacher Institute) and Roger Groom (Mt Tabor Middle School) with improvements by ShakeAlert
This short activity provides an intuitive introduction to earthquake magnitude using an everyday item--spaghetti. Learners are introduced to the earthquake magnitude scale by breaking different amounts of uncooked noodles. Visual scale of the pasta emphasizes the relative differences between magnitudes with each whole step in magnitude. For older students, the demonstration helps students understand why seismologists use the nonlinear logarithmic scale to best graph the huge range of quantities.
Resource Type: Activities: Activities:Outreach Activity, Classroom Activity, Lab Activity
Subject: Geoscience:Geology:Geophysics:Seismology, Environmental Science:Natural Hazards:Earthquakes, Geoscience
Activity Review: Passed Peer Review
Investigating Factors That Affect Tsunami Inundation part of EarthScope ANGLE:Educational Materials:Activities
Bonnie Magura (Portland Public Schools), Roger Groom (Mt Tabor Middle School), and CEETEP (Cascadia EarthScope Earthquake and Tsunami Education Program)
Learners modify elements of a tsunami wave tank to investigate the affect that near-coast bathymetry (submarine topography) and coastal landforms have on how far a tsunami can travel inland. Damaging tsunami are most commonly produced by subduction zone earthquakes, such as those that occur in Alaska.
Resource Type: Activities: Activities:Outreach Activity, Lab Activity, Classroom Activity
Subject: Geoscience:Oceanography:Marine Hazards, Environmental Science:Natural Hazards:Earthquakes, Geoscience, Environmental Science:Natural Hazards, Natural Hazards:Coastal Hazards:Tsunami
Activity Review: Passed Peer Review
Be Smart, Be Prepared! Planning an Emergency Backpack part of EarthScope ANGLE:Educational Materials:Activities
Bonnie Magura (Portland Public Schools), CEETEP (Cascadia EarthScope Earthquake and Tsunami Education Program), and ANGLE Project
Participants learn what to do before, during, and after a potentially damaging earthquake. They brainstorm valuable components for an emergency supplies backpack and then present on their ideas. The primary resource is the booklet Are you prepared for the next big EARTHQUAKE in Alaska?
Resource Type: Activities: Activities:Classroom Activity, Lab Activity, Outreach Activity
Subject: Geoscience:Oceanography:Marine Hazards, Environmental Science:Natural Hazards:Coastal Hazards:Tsunami, Environmental Science:Natural Hazards, Natural Hazards:Volcanism, Earthquakes, Mass Wasting
Activity Review: Passed Peer Review
SeismicWaves Viewer & SeismicEruption Software part of EarthScope ANGLE:Educational Materials:Activities
Roger Groom, Mt Tabor Middle School
This activity includes both the Seismic Waves Viewer and the Seismic Eruption software to help learners better understand earthquakes, volcanoes, and the structure of the Earth. Seismic Waves is a browser-based tool to visualize the propagation of seismic waves from historic earthquakes through Earth's interior and around its surface. By carefully examining these seismic wave fronts and their propagation, the Seismic Waves tool illustrates how earthquakes can provide evidence that allows us to infer Earth's interior structure. Seismic Eruption shows seismicity (earthquakes) and volcanic activity in space and time from 1960 to present. When the program is running, the user sees lights, which represent earthquakes, flashing on the screen in speeded-up time. The user can control the speed of the action. In addition, the program can show seismicity under Earth's surface in three-dimensional and cross-sectional views. Earthquakes can be selected by magnitude and volcanic eruptions can be selected by volcanic explosivity index. In this way, large earthquakes and large eruptions can be selected to emphasize how different types of plate boundaries are characterized by different magnitudes of earthquakes (e.g. no major or great earthquakes occur on spreading ocean ridges). This lesson plan was developed by , Portland Oregon. Students investigate how seismic waves travel through Earth's internal layers and bounce and bend at internal boundaries between mantle, outer core, and inner core.
Resource Type: Activities: Activities:Lab Activity, Classroom Activity
Subject: Environmental Science:Natural Hazards:Earthquakes, Geoscience, Geology:Geophysics:Seismology, Environmental Science:Natural Hazards:Volcanism
Activity Review: Passed Peer Review
Geologic Hazards and the Built Environment part of EarthScope ANGLE:Educational Materials:Activities
Jennifer Pickering
Collaborative, research-based activity of varying lengths. Main outcome is to identify potential vulnerabilities in the built environment and possible solutions.
Resource Type: Activities: Activities:Classroom Activity
Subject: Environmental Science:Natural Hazards:Mass Wasting, Environmental Science:Natural Hazards, Geoscience, Environmental Science:Natural Hazards:Earthquakes
Activity Review: Passed Peer Review