Earthquakes vs. Buildings: the final stand

By Meeko Smith, Sofia Geislinger, Allan Chen, and Azaan Lambkin.

ProblemWe did this experiment to find out…. Which structure can withstand earthquakes

the longest?

Research Earthquake and Hazards program was about different

structures and the damage during an earthquake. One example is that mobile homes have no structure, so they get damaged in earthquakes. Joyce Christopher and Haiti’s Rebuilding Call was about different materials and the damage caused. For instance wood might be more vulnerable than concrete. Building to The Limits was about the different ways and materials people have used to withstand earthquakes. Like strong, reinforced materials and flexible beams. Rocking the house was about how construction workers built a house out of different materials to withstand earthquakes. One example is using strong materials to withstand shaking.

Hypothesis

Independent Variable: The materials that the buildings were made of.

Dependent Variable: The amount of time the structures resist the shaking.

Our hypothesis is that if we build structure one so that it can sway, then it will resist the earthquake the longest.

Materials 25 Lego bricks 45 small pieces of tape 14 wood blocks 5 rubber bands ½ of a file folder 1 cardboard box 20 popsicle sticks

Procedures Build three houses made of different structures. Place structure 1 on the shake platform. Pull and release rubber band until structure falls. Repeat steps 3 and 4 three times for each structure. Record data and analysis.

Data TableType of Structure

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Average

Popsicle Sticks

37 31 38 35

Lego 13 10 23 15Wood Brick

4 6 5 5

Analysis

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Average05

10152025303540

Structure 1Structure 2Structure 3

Bar Graph

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Average05

10152025303540

Structure 1Structure 2Structure 3

Citation “Building to the Limits”. www.sciencemuseum.org.

www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/antenna/building/environment/111asp

Perkins, Sid. “Rocking the House”. January 22,2007. www.techandenginering.org. www.sciencenewsforkids/2007/01/rocking-the-house-3.

“Earthquake and Hazards Program”. www.associationofbayareagovernments.org. August 23, 2011. October 13, 2011. http://quake.abag.ca.gov/housing/.

Joyce, Christopher. “In Haiti’s rebuilding, call for stronger structures” January, 2011. October 13, 2011. www.npr.org. www.npr.org/2011/14/132904427/in-haitis-rebuilding-calls-for-stronger-structure.

Conclusion Our hypothesis was that if we build structure one

so that it can sway, then it will resist the earthquake the longest.

Our hypothesis was correct. Structure one stood the longest according to our data. Our data showed that it withstood 35 average shakes-the most out of all the structures.

There are two things we would change in our project. One is how the shake table is built because it kept breaking. Another is the height of the buildings, the heights of all the buildings would be the same.

Some factors that could affect our data is how much force was in each shake and how heavy the structures are.

Conclusion (continued…)

Our results relate to the real world a lot. They are a lot like what scientists research and experiment because they also are testing materials to find out if they can withstand an earthquake. The data we collected can help architects determine the materials they use, the structures and the designs they use when building a building. We recommend that people should use stable, but flexible materials when they are building houses or buildings.