Process
Webquest created by Mr. Theleman
Congratulations! You have been selected to create a public service announcement highlighting safety precautions to take before, during, and after an earthquake. Remember your commercial will be aired during the Super Bowl. You’ll want your message to be creative and direct.
Each person in the group will be assigned a different job. This job will require you to find out as much as you can about that subject. You will become the expert in your field. It will be very important that you work as hard as possible to find your information. After doing the research in each area, group members will share their findings. The group will then work together to incorporate this information into a public service announcement. The following are the jobs and job description.
Seismologist- A scientist that studies earthquakes. It will be your job to find out what the Richter scale is and how it works. You will also need to find out what are the three waves associated with earthquakes. Finally you will find out what is an epicenter and what is it’s importance.
Geologist- A scientist that studies the earth and rock formations. It will be your job to define what is an earthquake. You will need to find out about plate tectonics and how they relate to earthquakes. You will need to be able to describe how plate tectonics determine where earthquake zones occur.
Safety Expert- Surveys different situations then makes suggestions on changes that will improve the safety of an area. It will be your job to research how to be safe before, during and after an earthquake hits. You will need to research three different earthquakes in history and look at the damage they caused. Then you will need to make at least five recommendations for earthquake preparations.
Working in a group, you will create a PowerPoint presentation that will simulate a public service announcement highlighting safety precautions to take before, during and after an earthquake. Presentations should be four to six minutes long. You will also need to include information about the following:
Ø What is an earthquake?
Ø What is an epicenter and why is it important?
Ø How is plate tectonics related to earthquakes?
Ø What are the three waves associated with earthquakes?
Ø What is a tsunami and how does one develop?
Ø What is the Richter scale?
Ø List at least 5 earthquake preparations that should be made by citizens in earthquake zones.
Not everyone will be watching the Superbowl, so we will need to find an alternative way to educate citizens about earthquakes. You will also be responsible for designing and producing pamphlets about earthquakes and earthquake safety to be distributed to citizens in earthquake zones. Your group must become experts in the field of earthquakes in order to be highly successful in this endeavor.
The pamphlet needs to be interesting and informative. Information from the public service announcement should be used in the creation of the pamphlets. Since these pamphlets are going to be mailed, there will be a two page length limit. Make sure to include vital and helpful information.
· Microsoft Power Point- or similar presentation software
· Microsoft Publisher- or similar desktop publishing software
· How to correctly site web sources (http://www.yahooligans.com/tg/45.html)
· Saving images from web site and inserting them in PowerPoint
Because of the amount of on-line research and the requirement for using pictures and graphics from the web, it is imperative that you learn how to cite each of these sources correctly. This may be a good opportunity to learn about plagiarism.
Look at and discuss the rubric. You will be graded using this rubric. Make sure you understand the rubric and that if any elements are missing you will be graded down. If you have questions about the rubric, ask the teacher.
Earthquake Webquest created by Mike Theleman; Last updated February 14, 2005
