Lesson Plan: Seismic Waves
This lesson plan includes the objectives, prerequisites, and exclusions of the lesson teaching students how to describe the movements and patterns of seismic waves and how earthquakes can be measured.
Objectives
Students will be able to
- describe seismic waves,
- identify seismic waves as circular waves,
- identify the types of waves in earthquakes: longitudinal and transverse,
- identify and describe the function of a seismograph,
- interpret the output of a seismograph,
- define what is meant by the magnitude of an earthquake,
- identify and describe the main scales used to measure earthquakes: the Richter scale and the Mercalli scale.
Prerequisites
Students should already be familiar with
- the definition of a wave,
- the properties of waves including the amplitude, wavelength, and frequency,
- longitudinal and transverse waves,
- identifying the crest and the trough of a wave,
- the basic roman numerals from I to XII (for the Mercalli Scale),
- what an earthquake is.
Exclusions
Students will not cover
- P-waves and S-waves,
- the difference between body waves and surface waves,
- tsunamis.
