Module 7: Plate Tectonics and Earth's Structure

Are You Prepared? Public Service Announcement

Did you feel that!?! That was a question that many people on the eastern coast of the United States were asking each other on August 23, 2011. A magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck east of the city of Charlottesville. Since the state of Virginia is not located on an active plate boundary, you would not expect many earthquakes in this area. This earthquake was even strong enough to damage the Washington Monument located in Washington, D.C.

In this module, you have learned that scientists believe that the interaction between plates is responsible for earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions. Also, you discovered that many of these sudden and dangerous events take place near populated areas. In this assignment, you will need to create an audio public service announcement urging people to compile a survival tool kit and survival plan for any area located near an active volcano or subject to frequent earthquakes. Public service announcements (or PSAs) are advertisements used by the government and non-profit organizations to raise awareness of an issue, or encourage people to take action to make an improvement in their community. An effective PSA is one that appeals to a target audience, informs the listener, and provides a call to action. You may have heard public-service announcements on the benefits of quitting smoking, eating healthfully, exercising, or recycling.

Now that you know all about earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunami, pretend that you have been selected to create a public-service announcement for people in any location near an active volcano or subject to frequent earthquakes. This PSA should educate about why earthquakes and/or volcanoes occur, where they take place, and the impacts of these natural disasters. Your two to three minute audio PSA should include details about each of these topics. For this assignment, you should use audio recording software provided to you by your instructor, or free audio recording software available online, such as Audacity. Your final submission will need to include a transcript of the audio file.

Before you begin, review the Are You Prepared? PSA Rubric so that you understand how your assignment will be graded. Also, please take a few minutes to view the examples of public service announcements provided below. You may need to use resources outside of this course to complete this assignment. If so, please submit a Works Cited document. If you need assistance, visit the Developmental Module for information on citing any resources that you used.

Reflection

Think about experiencing a tsunami, earthquake, or volcanic eruption in your own town or city. What would be the impact to your surroundings? How do you think you would react in an event of this magnitude? Have you, or your family, planned for any natural disasters? In a paragraph, write a brief reflection that answers these questions.

Once you have completed your PSA, transcript, and works cited document, please your work to the dropbox.

 

Once you have completed this module, please complete the module test.