Year+6+Science+-+Earthquake+Explorers

= Y﻿ear 6 Earthquake Explorers =

﻿Tuning-in Excursion to Geoscience Australia  Students used eggs to describe tectonic plates and the Earth’s centre. It was a great activity for students to see the correlation between tectonic plates and a cracked shell. After the hype of the smell had died down, students worked together to predict what the centre of the egg might look like and compare that with the centre of the Earth. The discussions were a high level and I was impressed with the language students were using. It was a great hands-on lesson. Students used plasticine to represent their understanding of tectonic plate movement. They experimented by pulling the plasticine apart, pushing them together and gently sliding them past each. Lots of students were able to describe what happened to the edges of the plasticine and predict what might happen to buildings built along the edges. Some students referred back to our excursion to Geoscience where they learnt about plates being pushed together to form mountain ranges e.g. Himalayas.
 * Interior Insights **
 * Modelling Earthquakes **

I decided to let students investigate in pairs what Pangaea is. Some already had an idea due to our excursion at Geoscience but for most is was a new concept. Some of the students had no idea the plates were once all joined together. It was interesting listening to their discussions about why and how the plates have moved over time. Global warming, huge earthquakes and continental drift were some of the ideas suggested. It was a really interesting lesson.
 * Plates on the Move **



The students had so much fun in this lesson. It was hands-on, loud, busy and hugely entertaining. Students made a simple seismometer using a pencil, ruler, a piece of paper and a table. Students experimented with moving the table at various strengths to experiment with the waves on the seismogram. They highlighted where the weaker and stronger movements were. Afterwards we used the Internet to find examples of seismograms for recent earthquakes.
 * Seismograph **

As our culminating activity I asked students to research an earthquake and compile a seismologist report. I thought the students would choose recent earthquakes, however I was genuinely surprised with their choices. Many of them researched earthquakes that I myself had no idea about. Some went right back to the 1800’s! The information they obtained using a variety of websites was incredible. As a class we negotiated ways for them to present their research. Only one student chose to write and act out a news report whereas everyone else chose to write newspaper articles. The attraction of using laptops is just too strong! I was really impressed with their creative presentation and designs.
 * On Location - Seismologist Report **

This unit has been amazing! Right from the onset my class were engaged, enthusiastic and eager to research earthquakes. We were fortunate in many ways that so many earthquakes had occurred before, during and after this unit aiding the student’s curiosity. I easily could have taught this unit over 10 weeks instead of 4. So many of my students were reluctant to finish.
 * Reflection **

