Lesson Plan

Finding the Epicenter

Curated and Reviewed by Lesson Planet

The epicenter is the point on the ground above the initial point of rupture. The 10th lesson in a series of 20 encourages scholars to learn to triangulate the epicenter of an earthquake based on the arrival times of p waves and s waves. The teacher walks through the process step by step in order to facilitate mastery.

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CCSS: Adaptable
Additional Tags
Instructional Ideas
  • View recent earthquakes throughout the world https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/
Classroom Considerations
  • It would be helpful if students have prior experience with using a compass to measure and draw a circle
  • Some of the questions required on the conclusion worksheet were not covered in the lesson as written, but they should be answered in all standard text books
Pros
  • Uses a 5E lesson format to provide familiarity throughout the series
  • Includes cross-curricular connections to math and science
Cons
  • Finding the Epicenter worksheet is fuzzy and difficult to read
Common Core