Lesson Plan Template

Subject(s): Earthquakes and Earth's Interior

Date: 11-23-2015

Teacher: Leila Turner

School: CSUDH

1.

2.

3.

Learning Objectives:
To be able to determine the P waves, S waves, and surface waves on a
seismogram.
To be able to use a seismogram as well as a travel-time graph to
measure the distance to the epicenter of an earthquake and the time it
ocurred.
To know the difference between a seismogram and a seismograph
Know the names, thickness, and consistency of each layer of the earth
Explain why S waves cannot travel through the asthenosphere
Know the difference between the hypocenter(focus) and epicenter.
Know the 3 locations around the world where earthquakes occur most
frequently
Learning Target(s): What the students should know at the end of the lesson
Earthquake: ground shaking caused by the sudden and rapid
movement of one black of rock slipping past another along fractures in
the Earth's crust called faults.
Hypocenter (or focus): The source of the earthquake below the surface
Epicenter: The point on the Earth's surface that is directly above the
hypocenter.
Seismographs are the machines meant to record the data from an
earthquake and a seismogram is the recording made by the the
seismograph.
P waves hit first followed by the S waves and then the surface waves
Earthquakes most often occur in the Circum-Pacific Seismic Belt (Ring
of Fire), the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, and at the Alpide.
S waves cannot travel through the Asthenosphere because the
Asthenosphere is not entirely solid and S waves can only travel
through solids.
The Earth's major layers in order are the Crust(5-70 km thick),
Lithosphere, Asthenosphere,Mantle (2900 km thick), Outer Core (2270
km thick), Core, and the Inner Core ( Radius of 1216 km).
Relavance/Rationale:
This lesson is so important because it teaches children about
earthquakes and what causes them. Here in California we are long overdue
for another big earthquake and it is only a matter of time before it happens. If
more people are educated on this topic then we can do more to prepare for

the inevitable earthquake.

4.

Formative Assessment Criteria for success:

Questions that check understanding:
How many layers of the earth are there? Can you list them?
What is a seismogram?
What is a seismograph?
What is the term that we use to refer to the Circum-Pacific Seismic
Belt?
What is a hypocenter?
what is the focus?
What is the epicenter?
Can S waves travel through the Asthenosphere?

5.

Activities/Tasks: (What learning experiences will students engage in?)

vocabulary worksheets
labeling seismograms
locating the epicenter of an earthquake
determining what time the earthquake hit based on the data on a map

6.

Resources/Materials:
Textbook/lab manual
pencil
ruler
drawing compass
calculator
drawing compass