Earthquakes

After an earthquake of a 7.8 magnitude our class decided that earthquakes were a great topic to inquire about. We decided to learn about the layers of the Earth frst. These layers are ( from the outermost to the innermost layer)

1. Crust

2. Mantle

3. Outer Core

4. Inner Core

We have also learnt about tectonic plates. We cut out the plates and glued them onto a map. We saw that our area is on the edge of two plates - the Australian plate and the Pacific plate.

Today we completed an assessment task about these 2 BIG ideas. We are beginning to form some questions as we learn more about our planet.

Here are some of our questions...

What is the connection between earthquakes and volcanoes?

Can animals sense earthquakes?

What do we do in an earthquake?

Why wasn't there more damage in our area when the earthquake was a high magnitude (7.8)?

How does an earthquake work?

What causes the fault lines to move?

Do we have an emergency plan at home?

Do we have an emergency plan at school?

Why do we get lots of earthquakes in NZ?