What Causes Earthquakes?

Lab Brief #10

🎯 Your mission

Run the experiment. Find out what really happens.

⚡ The twist

Weather isn't random — it's just complicated.

What you'll learn

Earthquakes happen when the ground shakes. They are caused by movement deep under the Earth's surface.

Key words

rain
Water drops that fall from clouds down to the ground.
rock
A hard, solid piece of the Earth made of minerals.

Make a hypothesis first

Before you observe: what shape will it leave?

Say your guess out loud — then find out if you were right.

Get ready

🧰 What you need

water
plastic tray

⚠️ Safety first

Mop up spills straight away so nobody slips, and keep liquids away from sockets.

Step 1 of 4 · Read

Look at the new words. Can you say each one?

Step 2 of 4 · Do

Make a mini water cycle: put warm water in a bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and place an ice cube on top. Watch what happens.

Step 3 of 4 · Observe

Use your senses to describe what you notice.

Step 4 of 4 · Record

Write 1-2 sentences about what happened.

Question 1 of 2

What causes wind?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Question 2 of 2

What happens when the sun heats water?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Mind = blown

🌊 The deepest part of the ocean is deeper than Mount Everest is tall.

Nice work!

You got 0 of 2 right.

Next: Slow-Moving Glaciers All lessons

🎯

Next Smart Experiment

We'll pick an experiment that matches exactly how you're thinking right now.

✨ More to explore

🌍 Where you see this in real life: Today's weather, tomorrow's beach, next century's coastline — all this.

🏆 Stretch challenge (try it this week): Look at the sky for 5 minutes and try to predict tomorrow's weather.

👨‍👩‍👧 For the dinner table: “What's the slowest change you can think of?”

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What Causes Earthquakes?

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