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Unit Plan

Earthquakes: Sixth Grade Lesson Plans and Activities

Curated and Reviewed by Lesson Planet
This Earthquakes: Sixth Grade Lesson Plans and Activities unit plan also includes:

Young seismologists learn more about plate tectonics with a set of pre-lab, lab, and post-lab lessons plans on earthquakes. After exploring how waves travel through various materials, sixth graders record their observations and draw conclusions before constructing a model of fault movements.

1 Collection 129 Views 84 Downloads NGSS: Adaptable
Concepts
wave crests, wavelength, seismic waves, seismology, frequency, seismographs, earthquakes, earth's inner core, wave energy, faults, p waves, s waves, the earth's outer core, the earth's mantle, the earth's crust
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Additional Tags
science
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Instructional Ideas
  • Create a word wall to include the following terms: seismic waves, liquefaction, frequency, crest, trough, S-waves, P-waves, mantle, earthquakes, and seismographs 
Classroom Considerations
  • The second lesson in a four-part unit on the plate tectonic cycle
  • Have class members refer to pages 5-8 in the portion of the workbook
Pros
  • Provides blackline masters and the answer key to the lab questions
  • Includes an auxiliary workbook for the entire unit
Cons
  • Lesson assumes pupils have background knowledge of the earth's interior structure and how to conduct an experiment