Earthquakes and Tsunami's go hand in hand, which is why I have combined the two topics into one post. Below you will find resources to teach your student about these two topics, starting with a short playlist of videos found on Youtube. As always I would suggest that the parent watches the videos ahead of time so that they can prepare for any questions their child will have when watching them.
You can click the link below to go to YouTube and watch the playlist, or simply watch it below. You can change it to fullscreen.
Also, here are some books on Amazon that you may find helpful to purchase ahead of time when teaching your child these topics. If you click the link it will take you directly to the book on Amazon.com. The book: Volcanoes and Earthquakes is the same book I recommend in the Volcano lesson article. Of course you will want to take into consideration your child's particular learning goals and needs when purchasing any book.
Earthquake learning resources:
USGS Earthquakes For Kids - Tons of Kids activities and information
USGS Earthquake Hazard Program - Lists all recent quakes with informaiton
USGS Earthquake Hazard Program - Earthquake Information Center
USGS Learning Center - Glossary of terms, faqs, info for kids, etc.
Earthquake Worksheets:
PDF Earthquake Draw and Write - Draw a picture of an earthquake and write about it
PDF Kids Activity Survival Kit - You can make a survival kit with your child for emergencies like earthquakes, and your child can make an activity survival kit so they will have something to do in an emergency.
Tsunami Books:
Tsunami Resources:
Tsunami Worksheets:
Tsunami KWL worksheet - (What I know, what I want to know, what I have learned)
Ideas for teaching about Earthquakes and tsunamis:
- Watch videos in playlist above about earthquakes and tsunamis
- Read books about earthquakes/tsunamis with children
- Have student do worksheets and coloring pages about earthquakes
- Have student do research about earthquakes and write a report or give an oral report. Possible report topics could be: How earthquakes work, how earthquakes affect humans, how to be prepared for an earthquake, how earthquakes cause tsunamis, how buildings can be retrofitted and reinforced to withstand earthquakes (do extra research into how Japan has built it's buildings to withstand earthquakes), how many earthquakes occur around the world every day, the different types of earthquakes, the different types of earthquake waves, various earthquake vocabulary, earthquake detection and measurement systems.
- Have student do research about tsunamis and write a report or give an oral report. Possible report topics include: How tsunamis work, how tsunamis affect human populations, the destructive force of tsunamis, tsunami detection systems, where tsunamis affect the population the most, the most recent tsunamis, history of tsunamis, the various ways tsunamis can be caused (ex. not just earthquakes).
- Have student design an experiment and conduct experiment with how earthquakes work, how a building is destroyed during an earthquake, or how tsunamis are started via earthquake or other forces. Student can form hypothesis and follow scientific method during designing and conducting these experiments and write a report on these experiments. For the report the student should draw pictures, make diagrams, and take pictures and or video if possible to include in the report. This is an excellent time to teach your student how to give oral reports or let them practice giving oral reports. You can tape their oral report if you have video capability and let them watch the video afterwards so they know what they need to work on for the next oral report.
- Have student make an informative Powerpoint or video presentation about earthquakes and or tsunamis and put on Youtube for other students to see and use.
- Have student write and illustrate a small book on earthquakes and tsunamis with what they have learned. This can be as simple as taking five or six sheets of computer paper, folding in half and stapling in the middle and letting the child create a book with illustrations.
- An excellent writing assignment would be to have your student write a fictional work about what would happen if they (or a fictional character) were caught in an earthquake. If your student has had experience in a real life earthquake, they can also write a non-fictional account of their experience and how it made them feel.
- Have child write a haiku or poem about tsunamis and or earthquakes, or what it would feel like to be a part of these destructive forces.
- You can cover safety and preparedness topics with your child about what to do during an earthquake (and practice) and also how to prepare for a disaster by making a survival kit (see above).
There's a wide variety of things you can do with these two topics, and there's a lot of information to cover, although some of the information is the same between the two topics. For young children you don't have to go as much into vocabulary, and can focus more on what an earthquake is and what to do if one happens. Older students should be able to focus more on vocabulary and reports, and can even make connections between earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis along with other plate tectonics topics.
Do you have some great learning or teaching resources for these topics? Did you use one of these resources to teach your student about earthquakes or tsunamis? Let us know in a comment below!
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