We started with a brief worksheet to capture our current ideas about what causes earthquakes, much like we did with clouds:
We then started looking at two earthquakes: the 1995 Kobe Quake, which happened in Japan, and the 2001 Nisqually Quake, which happened in our own backyard here in Washington. We used a data sheet to start our investigation:
After checking out the basic data on the two quakes, we listened to personal narratives from people who experienced the quakes. Brad's friend, Preston, lives in Japan and experienced the Kobe Quake. Brad and Ms. Katherine shared their experiences during the Nisqually Quake.
During the stories, we watched a slideshow of photos from the quakes and then watched videos of the quakes themselves, and recorded our observations about how the quakes seemed to shake differently.
We were left with a big question: If these two quakes had the same magnitude (the amount of energy generated by the quake), why were they so different in their effects? To answer this, we have to be able to explain how earthquakes happen. We'll start that process right away with some investigations! I hope you find it as interesting as I do!
