Discovering Plate Boundaries is based on 5 world maps containing earthquake, volcano, topography, satellite gravity, and seafloor age data. The novel aspect of the exercise is the "jigsaw" manner in which student groups access the maps and use them to discover, classify, and describe plate boundary types. The exercise is based only on observation and description, which makes it useful at a wide variety ... Full description.

This educational module has been designed to provide students with the opportunity to interactively investigate the nature of earthquakes. The module has been divided into three major sections, "What is an Earthquake?", "The Distribution of Earthquakes", and "Measuring Earthquakes". Each section presents background material and interactive learning activities allowing students to understand such characteristics ... Full description.

This report describes how the work of K. Wadati, Charles F. Richter, Harry O. Wood, and Beno Gutenberg resulted in a way of rating earthquakes in southern California according to an instrumental analysis of the amount of energy they released in the form of seismic waves. This work resulted in the first use of the term "magnitude" for describing the amount of energy released by an earthquake, and in ... Full description.

This homework exercise, which was designed for an undergraduate level geology class at Tulane University, asks the student to make evaluations about the Loma Prieta Earthquake and other earthquakes using seismograms, time travel curves, maps and other information. Full description.

This resource explores earthquakes and seismic hazards, using the San Francisco area as an example. Materials include histories of San Francisco's earthquakes, including the 1906 'Great Earthquake' and the 1989 Loma Prieta quake. A section on quake basics addresses the relationship between earthquakes and plate tectonics, fault movements, seismic waves, and how earthquakes are measured. For educators, ... Full description.

This student activity demonstrates how foraminifera can be used to analyze climate. It contains background information and the classroom activity, which includes instructions and the required charts and graphs. Full description.

This web site provides an interactive map of global seismic activity that is updated every 30 minutes. The site uses data from the National Earthquake Information Center to produce a world map with clickable areas of seismic activity. Users can click on geographical areas of the map, and will be taken to a table which describes the time, location, magnitude and comments about particular seismic events. ... Full description.