EARTHQUAKE
Educator Information

 Content Areas:

Earthquakes, seismology, emergency management, and natural disasters.

 Grade Levels: 5-8; 9-12

 National Science Content Standards:

D = Earth and Space Science
E = Science and Technology
F = Science in Personal and Social Perspectives

Synopsis:

An earthquake devastates Los Angeles. In the film, data collected and other occurrences observed seem to lead to the prediction of an earthquake. The earthquake occurs and the story continues with the efforts of people to survive after a major earthquake.

Good Science:

 Earthquake scales and measurements. Instrumentation. Fault activity. Realistic dangers from earthquakes, and their aftereffects.

 Bad Science:

At the motorcycle race track, the speeds that the cyclist uses are too slow for the stunts. The apparent length of time the quake lasted was too long.

 Media Center Extension:

• Obtain recent seismographs for classroom use and display.
• Set up the “virtual earthquake” Web site on media center computers for student use (www.sciencecourseware.com/eec/Earthquake).

 Web Resources:

• Virtual Earthquake: www.sciencecourseware.com/eec/Earthquake/
• National Earthquake Information Center: neic.usgs.gov
• PBS’s Savage Earth: www.pbs.org/wnet/savageearth

As the information available on the Web is constantly changing we recommend that you search for new sites that relate to this lesson/film.

Return to the Learning Science With Science Fiction Main Page