In this lesson students will learn about tectonic plate movement. They will discover that we can measure the relative motions of the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate along the San Andreas Fault. Students will be able to compare and contrast movements on either side of the San Andreas Fault, calculate the amount of movement of a tectonic plate over a period of time, and describe the processes ... Full description.

This is a short lesson about scarp formation. The answer is provided as an animated GIF. This example points out a general rule of fault-related geology: the apparent offset of a feature (in this case, level ground offset vertically) is not always an indication of the actual displacement (horizontal cutting of a pre-existing scarp) along a fault. This is one of the more extreme examples of that rule. ... Full description.

This activity is designed to show how faulted rocks at an outcrop can provide evidence of the size and direction of the forces which produced the fault and to simulate the movements which produce faulting in rock structures. Students will discover that when pressures are applied to solid materials they may bend or break. When sands or sandstones bend, folds are produced and when they break, faults ... Full description.

In this activity students explore the difference between brittle and ductile deformation in everyday materials and how material behavior is influenced by temperature and the rate of deformation. They then apply the same concepts to rocks and to the occurrence of earthquakes and mountain ranges at plate boundaries. Students will understand that rocks are forced to change shape at tectonic plate boundaries, ... Full description.

This site contains information about paleoseismology. In the world of earthquakes, 'ancient' translates to before the 20th century and before instruments were used to record earthquakes. The article takes a look at how paleoseismologists study the sediment around faults to help predict future earthquakes. It covers what faults are and the role they play in earthquakes, how paleoseismologists use sediment ... Full description.

This paper explores some of the research done at Wallace Creek and explains in depth how the slip rate for the San Andreas fault was determined at this site. It is intended for those with some geological background and describes and illustrates details not mentioned in the Interpretive Trail guide. The paper also contains block diagrams, cross section diagrams, and a topographic map of the area. Full description.

In this activity, students investigate the distribution of large earthquakes (magnitude greater than 6) in Southern California. Using online maps of earthquake epicenters in Southern California and the Los Angeles Basin, they will compare these distributions with historic distributions (1932-1996), and with respect to the locations of major fault traces. Full description.

This site contains information about the general model geologists have developed to explain how most mountain ranges form. This model suggests that mountain building involves three stages, which are accumulation of sediments, an orogenic period of rock deformation and crustal uplift, and a period of crustal uplift caused by isostatic rebound and block-faulting. The later two stages of this model involve ... Full description.

This activity is designed to provide a better understanding of earthquake activity, the locations of faults, and earthquake hazards in the San Francisco bay area. Students study a false color satellite photo of the bay area on which earthquake epicenters for a seventeen year period have been plotted. Students use a California highway map or a copy of the California or San Francisco Bay area map from ... Full description.

This classroom activity uses a cake to demonstrate geologic processes and introduce geologic terms. Students will learn how folds and faults occur, recognize the difference in behavior between brittle and ductile rocks, and attempt to predict structures likely to result from application of various forces to layered rocks. They will also attempt to interpret 'core samples' to determine subsurface rock ... Full description.