Grade 4 · Earth Science · FireFlash pack
Interpret world maps of earthquakes, volcanoes, mountains and ocean features.
Put every recorded earthquake on a world map and a pattern appears around the Pacific. Earthquakes & Volcanoes teaches students to read map layers of earthquakes, volcanoes, mountains and the ocean floor, and to make claims only as far as the map shows.
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What students investigate
Students start with what a map's dots stand for. They find the broad belt of earthquakes around the Pacific, earthquakes elsewhere along the mid-Atlantic Ridge and inside continents, and volcanoes that form arcs, groups and hotspot exceptions. Then they lay earthquakes and volcanoes on top of each other to see where the patterns overlap and where they differ.
Next come landforms: long belts of high land on a relief map mark mountain ranges, and the ocean floor has ridges and deep trenches. The last cards show that zooming in changes map detail but not the events, that dates and filters decide which marks appear, and that a claim needs evidence that fits the map.
Who it is for
Earthquakes & Volcanoes is written for Grade 4 Earth science and is the last pack of the series. It follows Weathering & Erosion, moving from small changes in one place to patterns across the whole planet.
It works well on a classroom screen, where the whole class can point to the same pattern before students write about it.
What students learn
10 learning ideas, one at a time. Each one is a silent animated Learn card, then Review and Mastery questions.
- Dots can represent different Earth records.
- Many earthquakes form broad Pacific patterns.
- Earthquakes also happen beyond the Pacific.
- Volcano locations show groups and exceptions.
- Earthquake and volcano patterns partly overlap.
- Long high-land belts can mark mountain ranges.
- The ocean floor has ridges and trenches.
- Zooming changes map detail, not the events.
- Dates and filters determine which marks appear.
- Claims about Earth features need bounded evidence.
Science words in this pack
Each word is taught on its Learn card, then used again in Review and Mastery.
- data layer
- map source
- earthquake belt
- concentration
- mid-Atlantic Ridge
- continental interior
- volcano arc
- hotspot
- overlap
- difference
- relief map
- mountain range
- ocean ridge
- deep-ocean trench
- map inset
- map scale
- time window
- filter
- mapped pattern
- evidence
Inside the pack
How it works in class
- Learn. 10 silent whiteboard animations, one idea per card. No audio, so it works on a classroom screen or a quiet device.
- Review. 30 practice questions with feedback. Ideas a student misses come back.
- Mastery. 30 questions to show what each student knows on their own.
- Certificate. A student who finishes can print a certificate or save it as a PDF. It shows first-try Review and Mastery results and the ideas that needed a retry.
Standards connections
These cards support parts of the following NGSS performance expectations. They do not replace hands-on investigations.
- 4-ESS2-2 — core ideas
Questions teachers ask
Does it show where earthquakes will happen next?
No. The maps show where recorded events happened. Students learn to describe patterns, not to predict a specific earthquake.
Which Earth features does it cover?
Earthquakes, volcanoes, mountain ranges, ocean ridges and deep-ocean trenches, plus map tools like insets, scale and filters.
How do I open it after buying?
Enter your unlock code on the Unlock page, then share the pack with students from Share with students.
Get Earthquakes & Volcanoes
Already have an unlock code? Unlock this pack, then open it in FireFlash.