Activities for Grades 9-12

  • By using the real life story of Kamome, a boat whose travels across the Pacific Ocean from Japan to California were initiated by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, a concrete example is provided for students to explore, better understand, explain and prepare for these geologic events through the participation in classroom lessons designed to articulate with The Extraordinary Voyage of Kamome.    It includes information on preparing personal earthquake kits for home and car, finding out about tsunami hazard zones and learning more about the plate tectonic setting of the 2011 Japan earthquake..  This activity is meant to augment California’s ShakeOut Drop Cover and Hold On Drill, held every year on the third Thursday in October.  It will take a minimum of one 50-minute session (procedures 1-4) or up to three 50-minute sessions for the entire activity.

    View ShakeOut Activities for 9 - 12 »

  • This activity uses pieces of spaghetti to illustrate the earthquake magnitude scale.  While completing an activity using bundles of spaghetti, students will discover the difference in magnitudes of earthquakes from a magnitude 5 to a magnitude 9.   A magnitude 8 can be demonstrated as well, but takes bit more preparation work.  The earthquake in Japan in 2011 which created the tsunami that travelled across the Pacific Ocean, as described in Kamome, was a magnitude 9.1.  The Pasta Quake video demonstrates a magnitude5, 6, 7, 8 and a magnitude 9 earthquake.  This exercise also introduces the concept of duration as a way to estimate earthquake magnitude.   Allow 50 minutes of class time for the activity and an additional 60 minutes of preparation.

    View Pasta Quake Magnitude Grades 9 - 12 »