Earthquake P and S Waves Reading and Worksheet

This Earthquake P and S Waves Reading helps students to go a little deeper into EARTHQUAKE WAVES, including the characteristics of each wave, how they move, and how they cause damage.

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Great when learning PLATE TECTONICS (MS-ESS2-2) and EARTHQUAKES (MS-ESS3-2) or as a real-world supplement to a physical science WAVES unit (MS-PS-4-1 and MS-PS4-2)!

Includes both PRINT and GOOGLE SLIDES options to assign!

In this activity, students will:

• Read about P and S waves.
• Answer text-dependent reading comprehension questions.

Students will learn:

• The difference between P waves (primary/longitudinal) and S waves (secondary/transverse) and how they move
• How seismic waves travel through different materials (solids, liquids, gases) and Earth’s layers
• Basic wave properties like amplitude and wavelength, and how they relate to earthquake intensity
• How both types of waves interact with different materials (reflection, refraction, diffraction)
• The different ways P and S waves can damage buildings and infrastructure during earthquakes
• The relative speeds of P and S waves through Earth’s crust

Teacher Notes:

• Includes an answer key.
• Please note that this Earthquake P and S Waves Reading is not editable.
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