TeachersFirst's Earthquake Resources
Other TeachersFirst Special Topics Collections
Whether you teach about earthquakes as part of a unit on plate tectonics in an Earth Science class or need resources to explain a recent natural disaster, this collection of reviewed resources from TeachersFirst is selected to help teachers and students understand how earthquakes happen and learn about famous earthquakes in history. Also included are sites and tools well suited for projects about earthquakes.
59 Results | sort by:
Awesome Stories - AwesomeStories
Grades
4 to 12
tag(s): art history (38), artists (47), biographies (32), black history (41), civil rights (77), civil war (115), cross cultural understanding (63), disasters (30), earthquakes (37), easter (18), inventors and inventions (94), korea (14), lincoln (75), mars (37), movies (49), natural disasters (13), presidents (88), primary sources (63), resources (92), south africa (6), vocabulary (291), weather (160), womens suffrage (10)
In the Classroom
Use this rich site to support your social studies, history, science, language arts classroom and many others! There is a lot here to explore and many diverse topics. Use the Visual Vocabulary Builder to introduce your students to new vocabulary in a different way. Middle and high schoolers could use the movies to teach about character development and themes. The site includes several lesson plans that help you teach with current movies. Have your students use the site to find historical images to use in presentations. (Be sure to check the licensing on any image you use and cite it properly.) Project the video clips using an interactive whiteboard or projector to introduce students to a unit of study. Challenge small groups of students to explore one of the topics presented at this site and share their "story" with the rest of the class. Have students create an annotated image including text boxes and related links using a tool such as Thinglink, reviewed here. Many texts on this site are also useful examples of informational texts for practice of Common Core standards.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Media4Math - Edward De Leon
Grades
7 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): angles (63), charts and graphs (161), equations (99), functions (46), geometric shapes (74), polynomials (19), quadratics (16), statistics (90)
In the Classroom
View Math in the News presentations on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) to help students understand the connection between higher level math and it's real world use. Share links to tutorials and presentations on your classroom webpage for students to access at home. Bookmark this site for use throughout the year as a resource for supplements to current classroom content.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Seymour Simon: Award Winning Children's Author - Seymour Simon
Grades
2 to 8tag(s): animals (202), brain (53), butterflies (12), earth (197), earthquakes (37), environment (267), human body (70), hurricanes (30), insects (52), light (37), oceans (112), planets (97), plants (88), solar system (98), spiders (10), stars (55), sun (57), tornadoes (10), volcanoes (48), weather (160), whales (15)
In the Classroom
Enroll on the site using your email address. Access and use teacher guides along with Seymour Simon books during Guided or Independent Reading. View videos on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) to learn more about the author and watch ebooks. Share Seymour Simon's bio with students when using his books as part of a non-fiction unit -- perfect for Common Core informational texts! Challenge students to create a talking avatar using a photo or other image (legally permitted to be reproduced). The avatars can be used to explain or review any of Seymour Simon's books or articles from the Science blog. Use a site such as Blabberize (reviewed here) to create the avatars. Create a link to the site on classroom computers for students to explore items such as the Science Dictionary or read and discuss items from the Science News.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
GE Teach - Josh Williams
Grades
2 to 12tag(s): data (119), earth (197), latitude (11), longitude (11), map skills (47), maps (198), plate tectonics (24)
In the Classroom
Use side by side Google Earth to teach geography or simply give location context to class readings or current events, especially on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Keep the earth's "big picture" open on one side as you zoom in to investigate on the other. Or arrange side by side comparisons. Example: compare the peaks scaled by Lewis and Clark or volcanoes that rise in the Aleutians. Compare various locations for global warming, compare of volcano activity, or a history of immigration. Compare historic maps from different time periods to show how countries and boundaries change. Turn layers on and off from Choose an Earth or onscreen options to look at population centers and transportation systems. Teach the concept of scale/proportion using a visual experience on an interactive whiteboard with the scale and measurement tools. Use one window to show human geography and the other window to show items from the CIA Factbook for comparison. Have students hypothesize connections between geographic features and statistics about human development.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
GeoCube - GeoCube
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): earth (197), earthquakes (37), ecology (125), energy (150), environment (267), extinction (5), forests (23), hurricanes (30), landforms (36), maps (198), mountains (9), natural disasters (13), natural resources (32), ozone (10), pollution (60), religions (38), transportation (30), tsunamis (13), volcanoes (48), water (101), wetlands (8)
In the Classroom
Explore one of the subtopics on GeoCube with your class on the interactive whiteboard. Discover different aspects of the world through the subtopics. Use the text as a basis to find another text, either narrative or expository, and compare and contrast the knowledge. You might want to allow students to investigate the different topics on their own at a learning station. Language arts, social studies, and science teachers can use the information found on GeoCube to build background knowledge for students before studying a unit. Introduce a unit on the environment by reading and viewing the videos for waste and pollution, water resources, energy resources, deforestation, species extinction, and climate change. Physical science teachers can use GeoCube as a unique way to introduce volcanoes, tsunamis, hurricanes, and conflicts in the earth's systems. These are just a few of the 54 subtopics your will find on GeoCube. ESL/ELL and learning support will all enjoy and benefit from viewing and reading GeoCube.Use the GeoCube idea for students to present information they research on any science or social studies topic. Adapt it slightly, having students create foldable visual aids using FoldPlay, reviewed here, or interactive video cubes using YouCube, reviewed here. YouCube needs to access YouTube, so may not be accessible at school.
Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
wickED - Science Interactives - Ministry of Education, Wellington, New Zealand
Grades
4 to 8tag(s): plate tectonics (24), rock cycle (7), rocks (37), volcanoes (48)
In the Classroom
This site would be perfect to use when introducing a unit on rocks and the rock cycle, plate tectonics, or heat and pressure within the earth. Allow students to explore the interactives and compose questions that they would like to have answered. Challenge students to create a word cloud of terms from one of the interactives using a tool such as Wordle reviewed here. Continue to add to the Wordle throughout your unit.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Virtual Volcano - Discovery
Grades
4 to 11This site includes advertising.
tag(s): plate tectonics (24), volcanoes (48)
In the Classroom
Use this interesting site to learn about a volcano. Have students create models of the volcanoes they created virtually to show in the classroom. Assemble a variety of different resources to share with others about the various types of volcanoes, how often they rupture, and how people around the world cope.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Storybooks - Math/Science Nucleus
Grades
K to 6tag(s): animals (202), ecology (125), electricity (66), environment (267), human body (70), life cycles (18), light (37), plants (88), plate tectonics (24), rocks (37), space (154), stars (55), water cycle (26)
In the Classroom
Try incorporating some of these interactive stories in your existing science lessons, especially ones where you need to make a stronger connection between the content and life. Have older students read the story via a link on your website. With younger children, display stories on the interactive whiteboard and read through the story with them or have them partner read at a center. Talk about the stories relevance to the science that they are learning, and have students look for proof that the stories are scientifically accurate.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Bricks Activity - Math Forum
Grades
6 to 8tag(s): careers (93), critical thinking (64), earth (197), earthquakes (37), problem solving (150), puzzles (165)
In the Classroom
Introduce the activity on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) then allow students to work with partners to solve the brick problem. This activity would work well when studying earthquakes, careers (architects, civil engineers), as well as problem-solving.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Extreme Earth - Extreme Science
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): amazon (11), animals (202), antarctica (20), arctic (37), earth (197), earthquakes (37), geology (64), plate tectonics (24), sun (57), tsunamis (13), volcanoes (48), weather (160)
In the Classroom
Use this site as an alternative to a textbook in a one to one laptop science class. Add the link to the classroom wiki as an informational resource for your students. Or, develop questions about the reading and use as a guided reading activity to help enhance reading across the curriculum activities. Have cooperative learning groups explore one of the specific topics and create multimedia presentations. Have students create online posters on paper or do it together as a class using a tool such as Web Poster Wizard (reviewed here) or PicLits (reviewed here). Have students use Voicethread reviewed here to narrate a picture.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Extreme Science - Geology - Extreme Science
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): continents (33), earth (197), geology (64), plate tectonics (24)
In the Classroom
This site would be a valuable resource in a paperless science classroom. Information is reminiscent of textbook style writing with the convenience of informational hotlinks. Use as an alternative to the textbook. Have students use the information to research and create multimedia presentations. Have students create online posters on paper or do it together as a class using a tool such as Web Poster Wizard (reviewed here) or PicLits (reviewed here). Reading teachers will also find these passages useful for practice with finding main idea and summarizing informational texts. Share them on interactive whiteboard for students to highlight key words and compose a main idea sentence.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Tectonic Settings of Volcanic Activity - Prentice Hall, Pearson Education
Grades
6 to 10tag(s): geology (64), plate tectonics (24), volcanoes (48)
In the Classroom
Try having your students explore this simulation as part of a unit on volcanoes. Have the students work with a partner to practice or play with the simulation. Assign different groups different simulations. Then, have students take turns using your interactive whiteboard or projector to explain to the rest of the class how the different occurrences take place.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Science IQ - Science IQ. com
Grades
8 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): area (40), carbon (21), carbon footprint (10), chemicals (26), coal (12), earthquakes (37), energy (150), engineering (69), fossil fuels (12), fossils (40), glaciers (11), machines (27), matter (41), moon (56), natural resources (32), ozone (10), ph (3), planets (97), prime numbers (20), pythagorean theorem (18), questioning (23), space (154), square roots (19), stars (55), sun (57), volume (28)
In the Classroom
Try using this site's questions on a weekly or daily basis in science or math class to start discussions and provoke student thinking. Allow students to view the question on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Then brainstorm possible answers. Once enough thoughts have been seeded, share the real answers. Or, allow students to work at the answer as the lesson continues for a few days and reveal the correct answer as a finale to the lesson.This site could also be used as a learning station for the question of the day or the week.
Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Science Master Learning Galleries - The KGM Group, Inc.
Grades
7 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): acid rain (5), carbon (21), climate (87), earth (197), earthquakes (37), fire (25), fossils (40), glaciers (11), hurricanes (30), images (165), natural disasters (13), natural resources (32), rocks (37), tsunamis (13), volcanoes (48), water cycle (26), wetlands (8)
In the Classroom
For a quick use, add images from this site to a PowerPoint. For a more in-depth use of the site, either choose several pictures/topics that would enhance your unit, or allow students to choose a topic they would like to investigate further. Have pairs or small groups of students brainstorm questions they have about the topic. Many of the questions they come up with will be answered when they click on the picture. For the questions that aren't answered on that page, have the student research the answer using the Internet as a resource.Have student groups make an online Stixy (reviewed here) of things they discover about their picture/topic, and later rearrange the items to "explain" their topic to classmates visually.
Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Exploring Earth Visualizations - McDougal Littell
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): atmosphere (15), climate (87), earth (197), earthquakes (37), erosion (11), geology (64), oceans (112), plate tectonics (24), volcanoes (48), water (101), weather (160)
In the Classroom
Use "Observe a raindrop traveling through various paths of the water cycle" at the beginning of a unit on the water cycle. Give students the vocabulary terms and have them describe or narrate the path of one drop of water through the interactive. Students choose anywhere to start and after time will realize why it is a cycle. Use "Examine Earth from a new perspective" to view the Earth using a variety of contexts: earthquakes, sea surface temperatures, or seasonal changes in land to name a few. Use the Earthquakes visualization to see where the major earthquakes have occurred over time. Use this visualization to find the pattern in the earth. Use as the start of a unit in plate tectonics or later in the unit when discussing human population in the world as well. (Many are along coastlines where major populations are located.)Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Earth Science Teaching Lessons - Compiled by Christy Pratt
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): earthquakes (37), erosion (11), fossils (40), hurricanes (30), maps (198), rocks (37), tsunamis (13), volcanoes (48), water (101), weather (160)
In the Classroom
Use your interactive whiteboard or projector to view videos and images from the site with your class. Use lesson plans provided as additional resources within Earth Science units. Assign students different portions of the site to review and prepare multimedia projects to share with the class. Have cooperative learning groups create online books using a tool such as Bookemon, reviewed here. Or challenge students to narrate an image using a site such as Voicethread reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Volcanoes Online - Thinkquest
Grades
K to 12From Plate tectonics, the Earth's interior, Continental Drift, and other related topics, find a wealth of simple information to understand more of one of nature's most devastating events. Click on "Database" to identify aspects of the World's volcanoes. Answer quiz type questions in the game "Save the Village." Find lesson plans under "Teach." Use the review questions at the end to identify misunderstood information, try a simple and fun activity as a lab experiment.
tag(s): continents (33), plate tectonics (24), volcanoes (48)
In the Classroom
Create a webquest using the more advanced material on the site, with accompanying questions for students to answer. Consider using a jigsaw technique. Take one student from each group, with the same topic, to form a new group. This new group reviews information on a specific topic in order to become an expert in the topic. (Do this with the rest of the members of the original group as well.) In the end, these experts return to their original group and the expert information they have learned is all pieced together for further understanding by all of the group. Create conventional or multimedia displays to showcase information learned. Have students create an online, interactive poster known as a "glog," using GlogsterEDU, reviewed here to create a page to explain their findings. Or, use this information to develop a class wiki with information learned and serve as a template for a new wiki study guide created by the class.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Violent Hawaii - Public Broadcasting Service
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): disasters (30), geology (64), natural disasters (13), plate tectonics (24)
In the Classroom
When teaching about plate tectonics and associated natural disasters, check this site out with your students. Share parts of the video or use it in its entirety. Share the video (or clips) on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Use some or all of the websites from the lesson plan. The Shape It Up site is a great interactive - don't miss it! Have cooperative learning groups investigate different parts of this site and create multimedia presentations about their topic. How about a Word Cloud describing some keywords and phrases found in their research. Have students use a tool such as wordle reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Volcano Explorer - Discovery Kids
Grades
2 to 5tag(s): plate tectonics (24), volcanoes (48)
In the Classroom
The simple design of the site makes it perfect for students to independently gather basic information on volcanoes. Students will love building a volcano and making it erupt, and as students change the viscosity and gas levels they can practice making predictions in a science notebook. (I predict that when I increase the viscosity and gas, I will create a stratovolcano with a large eruption.) Share students' findings on a volcano wiki. Not sure what a wiki is? Check out the TeachersFirst's Wiki Walk-Through.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
Close comment form