What's Shaking?!

Direct experience is a powerful learning and teaching tool. However, when trying to teach students about natural hazards such as earthquakes, direct experience is not the best idea. Depending on location, it might be difficult to help young students understand the impact of natural hazards on their lives. Students will naturally find it challenging to understand something they have never experienced. Technology such as mobile devices, smart boards, laptops, tablets and other types of devices can offer students safe glimpses at the effects of natural hazards on human life and property. The technology enables students to gain experiences with natural hazards without actually having to live through the experience. In this article, the authors present the exploration of earthquakes and other natural hazards using technology. While the authors recognize that not all classrooms will have one-to-one access, these activities presented in this article can also be done as centers with a smaller number of devices needed.