Introduction

Earthquakes occur often in California. Earthquakes can neither be prevented nor predicted. Earthquakes are such a dangerous hazard that can take our lives and destroy our houses and communities. Don't you think we have to do something about it??? California Earthquake Hazard Program is seeking for help! Your teammates and you have just been hired to develop a handbook for your community to learn about earthquakes and their prevention and safety! Your creative handbook may be published!! Good Luck!

Task

You will be working with a team of four people to research and develop an earthquake handbook. At the end of this project you will have an oral presentation on earthquakes to inform your communities of your final recommendation of the best earthquake prevention and safety. To complete this task, you each will become a following; A member of National Earthquake Center, a National Geologist, a California Fire Department Employee, and a Building Inspector. You will use Internet resources to find the assigned information to incorporate into your oral presentation.
 

Procedure

1. Explore the websites listed under Resources.
2. Each person will have a specific role to play. Decide which one of the followings you want to be.

A Member of National Earthquake Center/A National Geologist (two students work together)
   1. What is an earthquake?
   2. What causes an earthquake?
   3. Where does an earthquake tend to occur?
   4. What kinds of earthquakes are there?
   5. What is Fault?
   6. How do you measure and predict an earthquakes?
   7. What is the relationship between volcanoes and earthquakes?
   8. What warning signs may show that an earthquake is about to occur?
   9. Do warning signs always occur?

California Fire Department; Firefighter
     1. What are the possible disasters as a result of an earthquake?
   2. What should people in house, car, or school do during an earthquake?
   3. What can people prepare or keep  in their home in advance for an earthquake.
   4. What should people know about other preparedness of earthquakes?

Building Inspector
   1. How can people strengthen their houses in case of an earthquake?
   2. What should people who live in older houses consider?
   3. What should people do to make their home safer during an earthquake?
   4. State at least 5 recommendations.

4. Organize gathered information to develop a handbook. Make sure to include visual pictures into your handbook. Be creative!!!

Resources

The followings are Internet links that will help you find information to complete this project. You may use resources other than the following links such as books to add more useful information you want to add to your presentation.

Earthquakes

    What are earthquakes? I

    What are earthquakes? II

    Things to learn about Earthquakes 

    Earthquake Measurement  

    Types of earthquakes

    Let's learn about earthquakes

    Where Earthquakes occur?

    How Earthquakes happen?

    Volcanoes and Earthquakes  

    Fault Motions  

      Faults

    Pictures of different types of faults   

    Measuring and Prediction

    Predicting Earthquakes   

Earthquakes Preparedness and Safety

    Earthquake Safety  

    House Over Garage

    House Preparedness

    Apartment and Mobile House Preparedness

    School Preparedness

    What should you do during an earthquake?

    American Red Cross

Los Angeles City Fire Department

    Earthquakes Tips

    Family Earthquakes Plan

    Earthquake Supplies and Equipment Checklist

    Emergency Communications 
 

Evaluation

Your WebQuest project and oral presentation will be evaluated using the following rubric.

 

	4	3	2	1
Accuracy of Information	ALL information was accurate and clear	Most information was accurate	Some information was accurate	No accurate information
Completion of your role	Excellent Work!	Good Job!	Satisfactory	Need more effort
Individual Contribution to Group Project	Awesome Work!	Good Job!	Satisfactory	Need more effort
Writing Style	No misspelling or grammatical errors!	1 or 2 errors made	3 or 4 errors made	5 or more errors made
Creativity of Handbook	Shows lots of creativity	Shows some creativity	Shows less creativity	Shows no creativity
Oral Presentation	Well planned and coherent presentation!	Well organized	Satisfactory	Non-satisfactory

Conclusion

Now you are an earthquake expert! I hope you obtained useful information about an earthquake and its prevention and safety. Through this project, you not only learned about an earthquake but also worked with your teammates,  learned how to research using Internet, and gained your computer skills that you will use the rest of your life! Congratulation on your WebQuest completion and I hope you never forget about earthquakes!