Computer Science
Engineering Earthquake-Resistant Buildings: Crowdsourced Disaster Data
Middle School
Impacts of Computing
In Classrooms
Students manipulate algorithms used to calculate an earthquake’s intensity based on crowdsourced survey data.
Module Overview
Students learn about the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Did You Feel It? (DYFI) survey and the algorithm that is applied to survey responses to calculate an earthquake’s intensity. They observe how the intensity calculation changes if they manipulate the algorithm.
- Teach this module after Engineering Earthquake-Resistant Buildings
- 2 lessons
- 45 minutes per lesson
- Student materials available in Spanish
- Computational tools used: MATLAB Live Scripts (free web-based application)
Standards Alignment
YES units align with state and national science standards, integrating seamlessly with popular elementary science curricula.
Module Resources
Digital Resources (FREE)
YES provides these materials free of charge! Use the link below to download resources from our Google Drive.
Download ResourcesModule Map
Students learn how the United States Geological Survey (USGS) crowdsources data about earthquakes
Students learn more about the algorithm used by the DYFI survey to calculate earthquake intensity and how some survey responses carry more weight than others. Teams brainstorm questions they might include on a survey to crowdsource data about a disaster relevant to their local context.
Our funders
Major support for this project has been provided by MathWorks.