Writing

=** Welcome to 5th Grade Writing **=

Earthquakes Summary

Earthquakes

Around the world, earthquakes cause the ground to shake and sway about a million times per year. Earthquakes can cause major destruction. This was seen in Mexico City on September 19, 1985 when an earthquake devasted the city. Ten thousand people were killed and hundreds of buildings were destroyed.

Five to thirty miles beneath Earth's crust is where earthquakes tend to take place. Faults or cracks in rocks in the Earth's crust push against each other and sometimes slip past one another. This causes earthquakes.

Some of the largest faults in the world include the San Andres Fault in California, near the Ring of Fire along the rim of the Pacific Ocean. To determine the size of earthquakes, scientists use seismographs, the Richter Scale, and the Mercali Intensity Scale.

Now you can see how devastating earthquakes can be to our world, how scientists measure and predict the damage, and where earthquakes are likely to occur.

References Simon, S. (2006). Earthquakes. New York, NY: HarperCollins.

**Descriptive Writing**

__** Tools for Narrative Writing **__ Prewriting Organizer 2 Fifth Grade Narrative Writing Checklist

**Writing State Standards**

**Quarter One Objectives**

Quarter Two Objectives

**Quarter Three Objectives**

Quarter Four Objectives