Notes on Madam How and Lady Why: Ch. 2 Earthquakes

(Previous MHLW post)

Ch. 2 Earthquakes

 P. 33 This chapter begins with a discussion of the 1868 earthquake in Arica, Peru. (Kingsley published Madam How and Lady Why in 1869.) We can also talk about the earthquake in Haiti, or the one Daddy experienced in 1991 in Northern California.

 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FW-TkpvKPl0

 Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1868_Arica_earthquake

* Addition: The girls pulled out two books when we started reading about earthquakes-- The Usborne Book of World Geography and All About Volcanoes and Earthquakes by Frederick H. Pough

 He goes into quite a bit of speculation about why—- not how-- the earthquake might have happened. This is a good time to discuss whether every bad thing that happens is because of the sin of the individual or group— in the Gospel of John Ch. 9, for instance, the Lord himself said that a certain man’s blindness came upon him not because of sin he or his parents committed, “but that the works of God should be made manifest in him”. (Later note: The Bible also says, "The wise man foresees the danger and hides himself," and it could be argued that people who live in earthquake-prone areas really ought to protect themselves, or else move. Proverbs 22:3, 27:12. Kingsley starts with this argument.)

 P. 37 The simplest explanation is usually the correct one (an idea popularly known as Occam’s Razor).

 P. 38 He speculates on the likeliest explanation for earthquakes. Here is a modern explanation of earthquakes (make sure to read the brief history of seismology to 1910, as it tells of different theories people used to believe): http://projects.crustal.ucsb.edu/understanding/

 http://science.howstuffworks.com/earthquake.htm

 http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/kids/

 An explanation of earthquakes in Yellowstone (scroll down to “Earthquakes”): http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2005/3024/

 Skip p. 38-40 and begin again at the middle of p. 41, “…as I had come up the valley…”

 Ch. 7-9 in Exploring His Earth (Ann Voskamp) deals with the earth’s structure, earthquakes, and plate tectonics.

 P. 46 Tsunamis discussed.

 P. 52 Fen: low, flat, swampy land (we see something similar just off the highway in our neighborhood)

 A picture of a fen: http://www.south-norfolk.gov.uk/leisure/1219.asp

 P. 52 Bog: an area having a wet, spongy, acidic substrate composed chiefly of sphagnum moss and peat…

 Dersingham Bog: http://www.norfolk-on-line.co.uk/heacham/images/top/walks960x300.jpg

 Sunken forest: http://epod.usra.edu/blog/2006/10/sunken-forest-at-winchelsea-beach.html

 Another portion of the sunken forest: http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/646114

 Pholas: a bivalve mussel http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Pholas

 P. 53 Change in the Earth is inevitable

 Science fair idea: http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas/CE_p023.shtml