This website introduces students to earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes. It includes reports about specific disasters as well as a quiz. Each report contains vocabulary words linked with their definitions and experiments to similate the natural disasters. Full description.

This on-line project is part of the Center for Improved Engineering and Science Education (CIESE) program. As they complete this series of lessons, students will use real-time data to solve a problem, study the correlation between earthquakes and tectonic plates, and determine whether or not there is a relationship between volcanoes and plate boundaries. Musical Plates has four Core Activities that ... Full description.

In the early 1900s, most geologists thought that Earth's appearance, including the arrangement of the continents, had changed little since its formation. This video segment describes the impact the theory of plate tectonics has had on our understanding of Earth's geological history, and provides a brief overview of what is currently known about the Earth's tectonic plates and their motions. The segment ... Full description.

Volcanoes is part of an online series of modules entitled Exploring the Environment. Emphasizing an integrated approach to environmental Earth Science education through problem based-learning, this module asks students to look at four different situations involving volcanoes, research the situations, and make decisions about them. Information about the three volcanic areas under exploration (Mt. Hood, ... Full description.

This text explains how detailed mapping of the ocean floor led scientists like Howard Hess and R. Deitz to revive the Holmes convection theory. Hess and Deitz modified the theory considerably and called their new theory Sea-floor Spreading. Among the seafloor features that supported the sea-floor spreading hypothesis were: mid-oceanic ridges, deep sea trenches, island arcs, geomagnetic patterns, and ... Full description.

This page provides an overview of the role of plate tectonics in the generation of earthquakes. It provides a map of plate locations and figures that illustrate fault types and tectonic environments (extensional, transform, and compressional). Examples of surface features in the Pacific Northwest, Nevada, Indonesia, the San Andreas Fault, the Red Sea, the Zagoros Mountains in Iran, and on the planet ... Full description.

This activity has students compare maps of plate tectonics with population density maps and to analyze what these maps imply about the relationship between population and seismic hazards. Students will read about and discuss the theory of plate tectonics, map the regions of the United States that are most susceptible to earthquakes and those that have volcanoes, and list the states that lie on plate ... Full description.

This module offers an introduction to the concepts explored by Alfred Wegener, Harry Hess, and others. It is the first in a series on plate tectonics. Full description.

This site describes where volcanoes are found in terms of plate tectonics and explains why they occur at those locations. S map shows that volcanoes are located mainly at plate boundaries. Then there are explanations for plate motion, mantle convection, and magma generation. The three types of plate boundaries are listed as divergent, convergent, and transform. There is also information about the ... Full description.

This Thinkquest offers an encyclopedic look at plate tectonics and volcanoes. Reference sections describe the interior of the Earth, continental drift, sea floor spreading, subduction, volcano types and eruptions, lava flow, and famous volcanoes. Lesson plans cover the internal structure of Earth, plate tectonic theory, and how volcanic eruptions and earthquakes affect the human environment. There ... Full description.