Did it sneak up on you again this year? Kidding aside, Richter Scale Day is April 26, the birthday of Charles Richter (1900-1985), inventor of the Richter scale. Most middle school science curricula include earth science studies in plate tectonics and its related phenomena, including earthquakes. Catastrophic events, such as the recent Italian earthquake, provide teachable moments. What better time to integrate a study of the Richter scale technology with science content?

On April 13, NYTimes.com posted the story Earthquakes’ Many Mysteries Stymie Efforts to Predict Them. The story reports not only the various unreliable methods of quake predicting but also the ways humans can induce quakes. Did you know that a man-made reservoir may have been the cause of a quake in China that killed 80,000 people? Or that a geothermal project in Switzerland has been halted because it was suspected of causing earthquakes?

Although we seem to have some knowledge of what causes earthquakes and even how to measure their intensity, there is no reliable way of predicting quakes — but it’s not for lack of trying.

How to Turn This News Event into an Inquiry-Based, Standards-Related Science Lesson

In honor of Charles Richter’s birthday, have students research the Richter scale. This concise page from the U.S. Geological Survey is helpful: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learning/topics

You may need to provide additional instruction regarding logarithmic scale. It is important that students understand that the difference between a 5- and a 6-level quake is not just a single unit; the difference is 10x! Or that the difference from 6 to 6.5 is not a half a unit, but 5x. Here’s a good refresher for you: http://www.astro.northwestern.edu/labs/m100/logs.html

Here is a resource intended for grades 6-12. You may find it helpful for your own content knowledge, and you will be able to modify activities to suit your students’ needs and abilities. It is a teaching box, or unit, called Living With Earthquakes and produced by the Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE).

The BBC has several video clips from the recent Italian earthquake. Some of these include computer graphics explaining why Italy has many earthquakes. You may be surprised by what you learn here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7986352.stm

The following are some related resources from the National Science Digital Library Middle School Portal: Seismic Waves; Observe Animations of Earthquake Waves; Plate Tectonics; and Plate Tectonics: Moving Middle School Students

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