This CNNfyi.com lesson plan is supplemented with material from

Lesson plan: Devastation of Indian quake

January 26, 2001
Web posted at: 2:57 PM EST (1957 GMT)

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Objectives

Students will be able to:

• Explain how earthquakes occur and how they affect people's lives.
• Develop a list of ways that nations can support one another after an earthquake.

Standards

National Science Education Standards
Earth and space science, Content standard D, grades nine-12

High school students should know that interactions among the solid Earth, the oceans, the atmosphere and organisms have resulted in the ongoing evolution of the Earth system. We can observe some changes such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions on a human time scale.

Materials

CNNfyi.com article, "Rescuers race against time after Indian earthquake"
Internet access
World map
Earthquake lab

Suggested time

One class period

Procedures

1. Discuss with the class that earthquakes occur when portions of the Earth's tectonic plates, located in the outermost layers of the crust and upper mantle, rub against one another. The heating and cooling of the rock below these plates causes the adjacent, overlying plates to move. During an earthquake, energy is released as heat and seismic waves radiate out from the "source," causing the ground to shake up to hundreds of kilometers away. If the accumulated stress exceeds the strength of the rocks making up these brittle zones, the rocks can break suddenly, releasing the stored energy as an earthquake.

2. Have students locate India on a world map.

3. Have students read the CNNfyi.com article "Rescuers race against time after Indian earthquake" and ask them the following:

• What happened in India?
• What was the magnitude of the earthquake? Was this larger than the earthquake that affected El Salvador two weeks ago?
• Do you think countries should assist one another in relief efforts? Explain your answer.

4. Have students research what happens after earthquakes. Direct them to look specifically at the costs to repair the cities where earthquakes have occurred.

Assessment

Discuss the information your students find in their investigation. Develop a list of ways to help countries after an earthquake. Students may want to look at international aid sites, such as the Red Cross, to see if there is anything they can contribute to help in the relief efforts.

Accommodations

Logical/mathematical: Have each student list different ways that countries can help India after the earthquake.

Challenge

Students can research earthquakes using Riverdeep's earthquake lab and share their research with the class.

U.S. Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center
Federal Emergency Management Agency

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