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- Students will learn details about a specific fault in southern California, including what size earthquake each is likely capable of having and when the last major rupture occurred.
- Introductory slides for this activity define a fault and its components, cover the various types of faults and their relationships with plate boundary types, display some photos of faults, define fault zones, and discuss faults in California.
- Students will work in groups to read a brief overview about a specific fault and answer questions from the provided material.
- Students learn details about one fault, including what size earthquake it is likely capable of having and when the last major rupture occurred.
- The final question asks them to consider if residents of southern California should be concerned about the possibility of a major earthquake occurring on this fault during their lifetimes.
- This activity was developed for use in a high school (grades 9-12) earth science class. The goal of this lesson is for students to learn about local faults in southern California. Lesson duration: 45 minutes.
- Student learning can be assessed using worksheet responses, interaction with the instructor in the classroom, or through group presentations.
- Students may need assistance with the opening questions about the cardinal directions, relating the length of the fault to distances between major cities, drawing the direction of motion on the map, and determining the percentage of total plate boundary motion in southern California that occurs on this fault. If there is additional class time available, student groups could present what they have learned to the class to teach their classmates about each fault.
- We have included the San Andreas Fault, the San Jacinto Fault, and the Elsinore Fault as options; this worksheet could be slightly modified to use any set of faults for which information is easily available.
- Supplementary Materials: This activity uses an interactive map and related materials from the Southern California Earthquake Center website. These materials are included as screenshots to be printed out for class use, but could also be used interactively in a computer lab.
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San Andreas Fault
Southern California Fault
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- Grade Level: 9-12
- Time Frame: 45 minutes
- California Science Standard 3d: "Plate tectonics operating over geologic time has changed the patterns of land, sea, and mountains on Earth’s surface. As the basis for understanding this concept: Students know why and how earthquakes occur and the scales used to measure their intensity and magnitude."
- California Science Standard 9b: "The geology of California underlies the state’s wealth of natural resources as well as its natural hazards. As a basis for understanding this concept: Students know the principal natural hazards in different California regions and the geologic basis of those hazards."
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Design EarthRef.org
Sponsored by NSF and NSDL
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