Geography - Natural Hazards - Earthquakes - Mercalli Scale drawing activity

A whole lesson which will introduce students to the Mercalli scale, teach them the characteristics of each level and allow them to demonstrate their understanding in several different ways.

Whole lesson:
Starter/plenary with ‘Hinge’ element to show progress / demonstrate understanding.
Photo analysis
Group activity
Varied individual activities
Peer assessment
Teacher notes & plan
Lesson evaluation

The main aim is…
For students to create an appropriate drawing for each level of the Mercalli scale, based on the descriptions.
For students to learn the main levels of the Mercalli scale.
For students to recognise how the scale changes between impacts on humans and impacts on the build environment.
To use / apply the Mercalli scale.

Key ideas and content…
The Mercalli scale has 12 levels.
The Mercalli scale measures the effects of an earthquake (and not the strength / energy like the Richter scale).
It is based on visual observations, and is split between effects felt by people and effects on the build environment.

To differentiate…
Help lower ability students by modelling some examples.
Underline the key terms in each description, and focus the drawings on these.
Encourage the use of thought bubbles and speech bubbles to add more depth and detail to the drawings.
Complete the drawing activity first, and then ask more able students to highlight main differences between each level.

To extend…
Play a Pictionary type game. Give the student a level from the scale which they then draw on the board. The class must then decide which level it is.

To assess…
Peer assessment included.
Check drawings for features unique to each level of the scale.
Use the Pictionary type game as a whole class assessment.
The photo analysis is intended as a Hinge for the learning, they come back to the original photo analysis and show / demonstrate their learning by filling in the post-it notes.