Corner learning 6 years old

Tittle: How earthquake happen

Date: 15/7/2019 – 19/7/2019

Places: canteen

Materials: metal cookie sheet, wooden blocks, Lego bricks and video

Activity:

1. Explain how earthquake happen

2. Show picture to student
3. Student do earthquake experiment
4. Show video to student

Conclusion: Student can get more knowledge about earthquake

Why do earthquakes happen?

The rocks that make up the crust of the Earth are full of fractures. On some of these fractures – known as faults – rocks
slip past each other as the crust rearranges itself in the process known as plate tectonics. But this slipping doesn’t happen
easily – rocks are stiff, rough, and under a lot of pressure from rocks around and above them. Because of this, rocks can
pull at or push on each other on either side of a fault for long periods of time without moving much at all, which builds
up a lot of stress in the rocks. When rocks do finally slip past each other, they move suddenly, releasing the built up
stress all at once and sending shockwaves through the surrounding rocks. The shaking that results is what we call an
earthquake.

Where do earthquakes happen?

Over 90% of earthquakes – including almost all of the largest and most destructive ones – happen at or near so-called
plate boundaries, where the 15 or so major subdivisions (“plates”) of the Earth’s crust and uppermost mantle move
towards, alongside, or away from each other[1]. Most of the plates’ movement is focused at these boundaries, so large
earthquakes far away from these boundaries are much less common. The image above comes from the U.S Geological
Survey’s earthquake catalog[2]. The plate boundaries are shown in red; the grey, yellow, and white circles show the 485
earthquakes with a magnitude greater than 5.5 that were recorded in 2018. Away from plate boundaries, almost all
earthquakes are less powerful than magnitude 5.5, but occasional powerful earthquakes can still occur, such as the New
Madrid earthquakes of 1811-1812[3]. During this event, a large number of earthquakes, including four with estimated
magnitudes greater than 7, struck the region near the borders of Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas.

Some earthquakes, known as “induced” earthquakes, can be caused by human activities. These activities include the
filling of reservoirs behind dams for water supplies and hydroelectric energy production; extraction of groundwater, oil,
or gas; underground injection of water for geothermal energy production; and underground injection of wastewater from
the oil and gas industry[4]. Since 2009, earthquakes induced by wastewater disposal have become much more common in
certain parts of the U.S.[5]. Although most of these earthquakes are too small to feel, some have been large enough to
cause moderate structural damage and personal injury, such as the magnitude 5.6 earthquake that struck near Prague,
Oklahoma, in 2011, and probably the magnitude 5.8 earthquake that struck near Pawnee, Oklahoma, in 2016. Beginning
in 2016, the U.S. Geological Survey has published annual one-year earthquake hazard forecasts[6] for the central and
eastern United States that incorporate the risk of damage from induced earthquakes.
为什么会发生地震？地震的形成原因要素——【为什么会发生地震】
地震(earthquake)是大地的振动。它发源于地下某一点，该点称为震源(focus)。振动从
震源传出，在地球中传播。地面上离震源最近的一点称为震中，它是接受振动最早的部
位。大地振动是地震最直观、最普遍的表现。在海底或滨海地区发生的强烈地震，能引
起巨大的波浪，称为海啸。地震是极其频繁的，全球每年发生地震约 500 万次。
地球的结构就象鸡蛋，可分为三层。中心层是“蛋黄”-地核；中间是“蛋清”-地幔；外层是
“蛋壳”-地壳。地震一般发生在地壳之中。地球在不停地自转和公转，同时地壳内部也在
不停地变化。由此而产生力的作用，使地壳岩层变形、断裂、错动，于是便发生地震。
地下发生地震的地方叫震源。从震源垂直向上到地表的地方叫震中。
从震中到震源的距离叫震源深度。震源浓度小于 70 公里的地震为浅源地震，在 70-300
公里之间的地震为中源地震，超过 300 公里的地震为深源地震。震源深度最深的地震是
1963 年发生印度尼西亚伊里安查亚省北部海域的 5.8 级地震，震源深度 786 公里。对于
同样大小的地震，由于震源深度不一样，也不一样，对地面造成的破坏程度也不一样。
震源越浅，破坏越大，但波及范围也越小，反之亦然。
某地与震中的距离叫震中距。震中距小于 100 公里的地震称为地方震，在 100-1000 公
里之间的地震称为近震，大于 1000 公里的地震称为远震，其中，震中距越远的地方受
到的影响和破坏越小。
地震所引起的地面振动是一种复杂的运动，它是由纵波和横波共同作用的结果。在震中
区，纵波使地面上下颠动。横波使地面水平晃动。由于纵波传播速度较快，衰减也较快，
横波传播速度较慢，衰减也较慢，因此离震中较远的地方，往往感觉不到上下跳动，但
能感到达水平晃动。
为什么会发生地震？地震的形成原因要素——【地震形成的原因】

构造地震：是由于岩层断裂，发生变位错动，在地质构造上发生巨大变化而产生的地震，
所以叫做构造地震，也叫断裂地震。

火山地震：是由火山爆发时所引起的能量冲击，而产生的地壳振动。火山地震有时也相
当强烈。但这种地震所波及的地区通常只限于火山附近的几十公里远的范围内，而且发
生次数也较少，只占地震次数的 7%左右，所造成的危害较轻。

陷落地震：由于地层陷落引起的地震。这种地震发生的次数更少，只占地震总次数的 3%
左右，震级很小，影响范围有限，破坏也较小。

诱发地震：在特定的地区因某种地壳外界因素诱发(如陨石坠落、水库蓄水、深井注水)
而引起的地震 。

人工地震：地下核爆炸、炸药爆破等人为引起的地面振动称为人工地震。 人工地震是由
人为活动引起的地震。如工业爆破、地下核爆炸造成的振动;在深井中进行高压注水以及
大水库蓄水后增加了地壳的压力，有时也会诱发地震。
Earthquake Experiment

1. First the kids constructed a tower on the cookie sheet using the wooden blocks. Then two of the girls sat on
either side of the cookie sheet and shook it as if there were an earthquake. Not surprisingly, the tower
crumbled with very little shaking and the blocks fell.
2. The metal cookie tray is meant to represent a tectonic plate and the shaking represents the shifting that
happens with an earthquake.

3. Next, we all worked together to construct a tower with interlocking Lego blocks. The kids, our boys
especially, are always excited when Lego and school collide! We made it approximately the same height and
shape as the wooden block tower. It took much longer of course to make the Lego brick tower, which led to a
discussion about how sometimes doing things the right way takes more time.

4. We set the new tower on the cookie sheet and the same two girls got on either side (in order for the
experiment to be as scientific as possible, we wanted to use the same people so they could attempt to create
the same earthquake force). At first, the girls recreated the same shaking they had the first time and the tower
stayed intact.

5. They became more and more forceful with the shaking, eventually lifting the tray up and banging it up and
down as well as side to side before they were able to knock the tower over and dislodge a few of the bricks.

6. This simple earthquake experiment was an easy way to demonstrate to the kids why buildings in earthquake
prone areas need to be built differently to withstand the fallout of the quakes.