earthquakes


 * Earthquakes: Epicenter and Magnitude Online Activity**

Part A: Travel Time Activity

1. Go to http://www.sciencecourseware.com/eec/Earthquake/

2. The first part of this activity is to step through the tutorial on SP Lag Time. Click under TUTORIALS on the “SP Lag Time” button. a. QUESTION: What do you think is meant by SP Lag Time when talking about earthquakes?

3. Press the start button and watch the animation. a. Briefly describe what is happening in the animation.

4. Hit the start button again. This time there should be two seismograph stations set up. Click the start button and observe what happens. a. QUESTION: What is the amplitude of a wave? Why do you think the amplitude of the S-wave is smaller at the more distant seismograph station?

5. Close the tutorial window. Go back to the main page (http://www.sciencecourseware.com/eec/Earthquake/). This time you are going to step through the Latitude/Longitude Tutorial. Under TUTORIALS, click on the “Latitude/Longitude” button. This should be a review. DO NOT waste too much time here, but skim through the tutorial and answer the question at the end. a. QUESTION: What was the Latitude and Longitude of the yellow dot?

6. Return to the main page (http://www.sciencecourseware.com/eec/Earthquake/). Now we are ready to start the activity. Under the heading MAIN ACTIVITIES, click on the “Travel Time” button. If Firefox tells you that your browser does not allow pop-ups, click on the PREFERENCES button at the top right of the page. Click on the ALLOW button. Then, click out of the window.

7. Read the Travel-Time Graph page. a. QUESTION: What will you be doing in this activity?

8. Click on the START button. While the activity loads, be sure to familiarize yourself with the tools and layout of the program. Then, close the window.

9. You will see four boxes for this activity. Go to the box on the bottom of the page, which has folder tabs. Click on the BACKGROUND tab and read through the background to familiarize yourself with the purpose of the activity. You may want to click on the EXPAND button to see the words better.

10. Once you have completed reading the BACKGROUND, click on the ASSIGNMENT tab in the same box. Read through the procedure and complete ALL of the tasks listed. Please follow step 6, by printing your completed journal and travel-time graph.

Part B: Epicenter and Magnitude Activity

1. Under MAIN ACTIVITIES, click on the EPICENTER & MAGNITUDE. Read the window that pops up, then click START ACTIVITY. a. QUESTION: What is the purpose of this activity?

2. This assignment is very similar to the last assignment that we did. First click on the BACKGROUND tab found in the bottom box of the screen. Read through the background information to get a refresher on some of the terminology.

3. Once you have finished reading the background, click on the ASSIGNMENT tab. Follow the instructions that are listed in the ASSIGNMENT tab.

4. When you get to step 2b, click on the TRAVEL TIME tool from the toolbox to determine the distances the seismogram was from the epicenter.

5. When you have completed the activity, you will be asked to take the QUIZ. Take the quiz. YOU MUST ENTER YOUR ANSWER ON THE COMPUTER AND IN THIS WORD DOCUMENT. Write your answer in the space below in Part C. Print this document, and be sure that your name is at the top.

Part C: Epicenter Location and Richter Magnitude Determination Assessment Quiz

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.