This site has information about where the tectonic plates were located in the Pleistocene and throughout geologic time. You can view animations of the plates moving or download models. Full description.

After a teacher led discussion (some background provided), students will break into groups and recreate global maps at four different points in earth's history. By completing this exploration activity, the learner will: recognize that continents of the western hemisphere "fit" together, create a model that demonstrates the similarity of the continents, identify the major tectonic plates, and calculate ... Full description.

This site has directions for a classroom activity in which students plot locations of major Southern California earthquakes on a map. A table listing major earthquakes, when they occurred, their locations and their magnitudes is included. There is also a set of questions for the students to answer once they have plotted the earthquake data on their map. This site is in PDF format. Full description.

This is a general structural geology page where some pictures and definitions of fault blocks can be found. Full description.

In this activity, students use a field outcrop map to construct an interpretive geologic map and geologic cross-section of the same area. Data sheets, an answer sheet, and supplemental maps for the teacher are inlcuded. Full description.

In this activity, students plot the locations of earthquakes on a world map for a week or more, and examine their distribution in relationship to Earth's plate boundaries. It includes a bilingual vocabulary list (Spanish/English). Full description.

In this activity, students explore the 'stick-slip' mechanism of earthquake generation. They will learn about the concepts of stick-slip sliding, static friction, energy conversion, and the elastic properties of materials. Students work together to develop and test a hypothesis, make measurements, graph and write a short report on the results. Full description.

In this activity, students use time series data from a Global Positioning System (GPS) station in the Southern California Integrated GPS Network (SCIGN) to calculate the station's rate of movement. From time series graphs showing changes in latitude and longitude over time, they determine north-south and east-west rates of motion and use the Pythagorean Theorem to calculate the station's overall horizontal ... Full description.

This site shows how to make paper models representing simple faults and illustrating some of the landforms associated with faulting of the Earth's crust. Full description.

In this lesson students will use earthquake and volcano data to explore the relationship between earthquakes, plate tectonics, and volcanoes. This in an online project in which students use the Internet to collect and analyze real-time data. It includes four activities in which they will plot the data, look for patterns, attempt to project where their homes might be located in a million years, and ... Full description.