Free Lessons About Earthquakes, Earth Science, Emergency Preparedness

A 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit Turkey yesterday. The death toll has risen to 270 and rescue workers race to free those trapped in the rubble from 80-plus multistory buildings that collapsed in Ecris, Turkey. What causes earthquakes? How can families stay safe? Here are resources to help children learn more about earth science, plate tectonics, the Ring of Fire, geology and emergency preparedness.

CNN Student News

CNN covers the breaking news for students in a digestible, kid-appropriate way. The Monday, October, 24 segment explores the rescue efforts in Turkey. There's a daily discussion section, plus polls and news quizzes linked to top stories. There's a download and printables section for parents and educators that provides companion maps for areas in the news. Currently, maps of Iraq, Libya and Turkey are featured.

Students can use maps to visually note important events and their possible relation to each other. These topographical maps could be used to draw in geological and subterranean features such as the plates, fissures, faults and volcanoes that may have caused the earthquake. Studying maps, students may also predict possible earthquake-related issues, such as the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor meltdown in the Japan earthquake.

U.S. Geological Survey

This site provides comprehensive earthquake tracking data, on hot spots around the world. USGS reports that Turkish cities of Van, Agri and Ankara, as well as Khvoy, Iran, are experiencing aftershocks. USGS also has an extensive collection of earthquake lesson plans and activities. Children can explore famous earthquakes in history, continental drift, features of the earth, seismography, the Ring of Fire (the inter-relationship of volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis) and forces of nature. There are printables, experiments, video clips, interactive demonstrations and hands-on activities for home and classroom use.

Musical Plates

This interactive site, from CIESE (Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education) features several online earthquake explorations. Geared for middle school and high school, students use real-time seismographic and plate tectonics data to complete challenges. Many of the activities are open-ended and based on experiment and hypothesis, not regurgitation of rote facts.

Discovery Education

This site is not free, but it has some free resources and and sample lesson plans. There's a complete unit on earthquakes, including engineering lessons on building earthquake-safe buildings, emergency preparedness. Discovery Education has many parent links for homework helps and a great collection of kid-friendly social studies and science videos. There's a free-trial puzzlemaker tool that allows educators to create word games and activities tailored to earthquake content.

FEMA

The Federal Emergency Management Authority offers a database of disaster information, interactive maps, cellphone tracking apps and family and public emergency preparedness activities. FEMA also has several kid-friendly sites. There's a kids and teachers link with printable lessons on earthquakes. There's a family earthquake planning kit. Ready Kids teaches kids about emergencies and disasters through role-play and interactive games.