Naturally-occurring earthquakes are a regular part of our Earth’s geological cycle, yet they do pose a threat to those who live near earthquake-prone zones. Have your students visit the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program webpage and download a KML file of earthquakes around the world from the last 30 days (Tip: select “KML” in the Output Option section). Have them load this file in Google Earth in their “My Places” folder and explore the geographic data.

Ask students to observe, ask questions about, and discuss the geographic patterns of where earthquakes take place, both on land and in the ocean. For additional information, have students read the Encyclopedic Entry: Ring of Fire. To guide student discussion and investigation of the earthquake data, use the following types of questions and prompts:

• Where do earthquakes occur? Why might they occur in these regions?
• Make observations and describe some characteristics of the areas where many earthquakes occur (e.g., landmarks, cities, population, land use, mountains, volcanoes).
• Is there a correlation between areas of frequent earthquakes and population density?
• How does the possibility of earthquakes affect people living in areas of a higher frequency of earthquakes? What modifications do people in these areas make to their environment and buildings to live there more safely?
• An offshore earthquake could trigger a tsunami. What regions would you predict to be at risk for tsunamis?

Many National Geographic Explorers work to protect sites of cultural, archaeological, and environmental significance. Have students read about the work of one or more of these explorers: conservation biologist Dr. Krithi Karanth, paleontologist Jørn Hurum, Egyptologist Dr. Sarah Parcak, and photojournalist/water conservationist Shannon Switzer.

Lead a discussion using the question: How do people decide what is important to preserve and protect? Then have students use Google Earth to map important sites in their community, saving them to their My Places folder. Use the following guiding questions to drive inquiry: Are there any geographic patterns in my map of important sites? Have them see what spatial patterns they can discover about the map they made. What is worth protecting in my community? What can happen if we don’t protect our community? Have students make predictions and explain their thinking with evidence and reasoning. To go further, have students answer: What current actions are we taking to protect these sites? Are they sufficient and sustainable? What can we do to help?

Bring the topic of energy use into the classroom using Steps 1 and 2 of the activity Mixing Energy Resources (you can use the later steps as an extension to this). Then have students download this KMZ file (World Bank, Sustainable Energy for All database) of renewable energy output and open it in Google Earth. Let them take time to read the legend and study the map. Make sure that students understand that this map shows the percent of electricity in each country that comes from renewable sources. Have them identify the countries with the highest and lowest percentages and conduct research in small groups to discover the energy story of one country on each side of the spectrum. This can include answering the questions: Which renewable or nonrenewable resources does this country have easy access to? Do they import or export their energy? Have they made big changes in recent years in how they generate their energy?

Students can also visit their country in Google Earth and identify energy infrastructure (pipelines, power plants, solar installations, wind turbines, etc.).