This tutorial instructs students on how to create simulations of P- and S-waves by using simple materials; a Slinky toy and a length of rope. Full description.

In this exercise, students will study the three types of faults, investigate the association between faults and earthquakes, and examine the relationship between earthquakes and plate tectonics. There is a set of animations that illustrate the types of seismic waves, an exercise in which students determine the location of an earthquake epicenter using arrival times of P and S waves, and an exercise ... Full description.

Danish seismologist Inge Lehmann used seismic signals to study the thousands of earthquakes that occur every year and offer a brief glimpse of what is happening deep inside the Earth. This article profiles a pioneer among women and scientists. It provides an overview of the P-waves and S-waves found in seismic signals and why they are important to our understanding of the Earth's interior, the educational ... Full description.

This website contains class notes from part of a Geology 101 (physical geology) course. It describes the Richter scale, and how it measures the magnitude of an earthquake by expressing the seismic energy released. The site discusses the properties of seismic waves, mathematical equations used to help determine magnitude, and how seismographs work. Full description.

This textual reference describes the history of seismographs, including how they work, as well as seismic waves, travel-time curves, and phase nomenclature. Full description.

These demonstrations are designed to help students develop a conceptual understanding of geophysical principles. The concepts covered in these demonstrations include rheology, seismic waves, reflection, standing waves, velocity, earthquakes, Earth density, magnetic field, resonance, precession, the shadow zone, and Curie temperature. Each demonstration provides background information and a complete ... Full description.

In this activity, students examine a seismogram display called a seismic record section in which each trace is a seismogram recorded at a specific seismograph station. The seismograms are plotted according to the distance (in degrees, geocentric angle) from the earthquake location and time from the earthquake origin. The traces are of the vertical component of ground motion, and have been filtered ... Full description.

This demonstration of how seismic waves reflect when they encounter a change in rigidity or incompressibility requires a helper to hold one end of a stretched-out slinky as stiffly as possible. The helper represents a material with a much greater rigidity than the slinky; waves can then be sent and reflected along the slinky. The site also discusses a demonstration of reflection from a less rigid ... Full description.

After giving the cause and an example of slippage along a transform fault, this site goes on to define the focus and epicenter and discuss seismic waves, including the primary (P), secondary or shear (S), and surface waves such as the Love (L) and Rayleigh waves. It provides information about detecting waves with a seismograph, comparing the waves on a seismogram and measuring the magnitude on the ... Full description.

This article, entitled Earth: All Stressed Out, dicusses the reasons for crustal movement, the different types of faults and seismic waves, and an explanation of how the damage is caused. The article includes several animations that support the explanations, plus a video taken during a destructive California earthquake. There are also three sidebars that support the article. They are Learning from ... Full description.