Earthquakes & Plate Tectonics: Plot Earthquake Data

Use the US Geologic Society website to print out a copy of the most recent earthquakes. Provide students with a world map with lines of latitude and longitude clearly marked. Have students plot the points at which the earthquakes occurred. Compare the plotted data to a map of the tectonic plates. If enough data points are plotted, you will see an outline of the tectonic plates form, as most earthquakes occur along those faults.

If you wish, to get more data plotted more quickly: print out the world map on overhead transparencies for each student. Have each student plot several points on their transparency. Then stack the transparencies on top of one another to create a single map.