We began with a couple of back-of-the-envelope calculations. First we estaimted the number of air molecules in our classroom (\[\approx 10^{28}\]). Then students worked on an in-class activity relating heat flow out of Earth with energy input from the Sun and energy consumption on campus and across the United States.

To provide an intuitive feeling for what happens in earthquakes I showed some example videos recorded during earthquakes. Most of the examples showed moderate levels of shaking, but a few showed how violent the shaking can become in large earthquakes. The clips are from YouTube.

The goal is to watch the videos and look for patterns in shaking – observe what happens near small and large earthquake.

California KTLA Anchors:

Alaska, 2018

California Judge Judy:

Van, Turkey Earthquake:

Coast Rica, 2012:

California 1989:

Japan Kobe:

Ridgecrest, CA (2019)https://youtu.be/dgamBCvgDAw

Tohoku, 2011