What Causes Earthquakes

Lab Brief #1

🎯 Your mission

Master the concept. Use it tomorrow.

⚡ The twist

The slowest changes are the biggest ones.

What you'll learn

Earthquakes happen when stress builds up along faults in Earth's crust and suddenly releases. Seismic waves radiate from the focus, shaking the ground.

Key words

tectonic plates
The giant slabs of rock that make up Earth's surface.
earthquake
A shaking of the ground when rocks move underground.

Make a hypothesis first

Predict: which will erode faster?

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

Step 1 of 4 · Read

Look at the vocabulary words and write a definition for each in your own words.

Step 2 of 4 · Do

Build a working model of a volcano using baking soda and vinegar. Observe the eruption and explain what causes real volcanic eruptions.

Step 3 of 4 · Observe

Draw a detailed diagram of what you observe.

Step 4 of 4 · Record

Write a conclusion: what did your results show? Did they match your prediction?

Question 1 of 3

What causes earthquakes?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Question 2 of 3

What causes weathering?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Question 3 of 3

What causes ocean tides?

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 3 right.

Next: How Volcanoes Form 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?”

🦕Share card

Share this experiment

Send it to a parent who's looking for a 10-minute kitchen science win.

What Causes Earthquakes

Next Smart Experiment

Share this experiment

What Causes Earthquakes

Done with science? Try something else

Your Cart (0)