Why Did The Earth Move

Fred Skelyton has a recurring nightmare. He dreams that he travels back in time to San Francisco, California, April 19, 1906. The city experienced a terrible earthquake the day before (April 18, 1906). Everyone he meets asks "Why did the earth move?" "What happened?" "Will it happen again?"

Fred knows he should be able to answer their questions. He remembered studying plate tectonics in science class. He really wishes he had paid more attention. He wakes from his nightmare screaming "I DON'T KNOW!"

Your task is to help Fred learn about the processes of plate tectonics so that he will be able to answer the questions of the people of 1906 San Francisco.

1.	What is continental drift, who proposed the idea, and when was the idea published?
2.	What evidence was used to support the idea of continental drift?
3.	Why wasn't the continental drift idea accepted at the time?
4.	What was the idea that supported continental drift and who published it?
5.	What is sea-floor spreading, who proposed the idea, and when was the idea proposed?
6.	What discovery in 1963 supported the idea of sea-floor spreading?
7.	What is the Jaramillo event and why is it important?
8.	What theory eventually developed as a result of these ideas and discoveries? Explain the theory in your own words.
9.	What processes power the movement of the Earth's continental and oceanic plates?
10.	What are the effects of this movement?
11.	What happen at convergent plate boundaries?
12.	What happens at divergent plate boundaries?
13.	What happens at transform plate boundaries?
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14.	What is folding and what causes it?
15.	What are the characteristics of folding? (high point, low point)
16.	What is faulting?
17.	Describe the kinds of faults and what happens with each.
18.	What causes an earthquake?
19.	How is an earthquake epicenter located?
20.	What are the Richter Scale and the Mercalli Scale?
21.	How do volcanoes form?
22.	What types of volcanoes are there and what are the characteristics of each one?
23.	Describe the types of lava and the formation of ash.
24.	What effect do volcanic eruptions have on weather?
25.	What is the "Pacific Ring of Fire"?
26.	What are the 3 methods of tracking plate movement and how do they work?
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1.	Print a world map from this site. Outline Maps for Plotting Earthquakes
2.	Search for all earthquakes during a one month period. (you may choose the dates) at this site Earthquake Search. Be sure to scroll down to the optional search parameters and type the dates in the required fields and submit search.
3.	From the data, locate the 25 earthquakes with the highest magnitude. (if 25 not available choose another month)
4.	Plot the 25 earthquakes on the world map. Describe what you observe on the map.
5.	Find out where the 15 Largest Earthquakes of the United States occurred. Where have the most earthquakes of the U.S. occurred?
6.	Have any earthquakes occurred in your state? Largest Earthquakes State to State If so give details.
7.	Where and when was the last earthquake in your state?
8.	An earthquake occurred August 2, 2000. The location was latitude N 35⁰20' and longitude W 101⁰90'. Use this site and find the city and state of the occurrence. Try to locate the nearest street intersection of the quake. Earthamaps
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Now that you and Fred have found the information, create a PowerPoint or a Multimedia presentation that answers all of the questions the people of 1906 San Francisco may have had. Thanks to you, Fred will be able to sleep tonight because now he will have the answers and his recurring nightmare should end.

Your work will be evaluated based on the rubric below. The content of your presentation counts 50% of your grade. Mechanics count 25% and Presentation counts 25% of your grade. A total score of less than 70 points will result in doing the project again.

0 Points	1 Point	2 Points	3 Points	4 points	Score
31% or more of required information missing or incorrect.	70% of required information present and correct.	80% of required information present and correct.	90% of required information present and correct.	All required information present and correct.	Content
More than 30 errors in English usage, sentence construction, spelling, capitalization, or punctuation.	30 or fewer errors in English usage, sentence construction, spelling, capitalization, or punctuation.	20 or fewer errors in English usage, sentence construction, spelling, capitalization, or punctuation.	10 or fewer errors in English usage, sentence construction, spelling, capitalization, or punctuation.	No errors in English usage, sentence construction, spelling, capitalization or punctuation.	Mechanics
Presentation of information poor in quality and effort. Overuse of design or no design. Difficult to follow.	Presentation of information below expectations. Design occasionally detracts from presentation. Interesting in areas, distracting in areas.	Presentation of information meets expectations. Design enhances presentation. Interesting most of the time. Little distraction.	Presentation of information above expectations. Design enhances presentation. Interesting throughout.	Presentation of information exceeds expectations. Design is of professional quality.	Presentation
				Total Points
Formula for calculating grade:	1) Multiply content score by 2. That is your score for that row.	2) Add points scored from each row.	3) Divide the total points by 16.	4) Multiply that number by 100 to find your grade.	*Grade*

A Science Odyssey		Earthquakes and Plate Tectonics
What on Earth is Plate Tectonics?		Volcano World
This Dynamic Earth		Volcanoes
Kapili.com		Volcano
The Heat History of The Earth		An Introduction to Plate Tectonics
Earthquakes		Plate Tectonics
Keeping Track of Earthquakes		Understanding Plate Motions
Surface and Interior of the Earth		Plate Boundaries and Interplate Relationships
		World Geography Today (textbook)