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October 2006Naomi J. MartyGK-12 Program
Earthquakes
Concept:Earth Science: Earthquakes & Earthquake-Resistant Construction
Description of Activity:Activity starts with introduction to earthquakes and the way seismic waves travel. The
students are then asked to design a building out a certain number of toothpicks and gumdropsthat will withstand a simulated earthquake. The students build and test their designs together asgroups within the classroom.
State Standards:(arkedu.state.ar.us)
ESS.8.6.10Identify the effects of earthquakes on Earths surface:
tsunamis
floods
changes in natural and man-made structures
ESS.8.6.11Investigate and map patterns of earthquake and volcanic activity
Locate earthquake belts on Earth:
Mediterranean-Tran-Asiatic
Circum-Pacific (Ring of Fire)
ESS.8.6.13Analyze how earthquake occurrences are recorded (seismograph) and measured (Richter scale)
ESS.8.6.15Investigate careers, scientists, and historical breakthroughs related to internal forces that changethe earth
Materials:o Wood Fault Line Models (described below)
o Dry Spaghetti
o Gumdrops
o Toothpicks
o Earthquake Shaker Simulator
o Metal Slinky
Key Questions:o Where do earthquakes happen?
o What kind of properties to you think would be important for a building to withstand an
earthquake?
Management or Organization Suggestions:
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o Allow the students to pick their partner for the earthquake-resistant structure activity. Tell
the students that if their building falls over on the earthquake-simulator it is out of thecontest.
Procedure:
1. Have the students watch a video about earthquakes. Follow video with discussion ofearthquake material. Discuss recent earthquakes in the news (Hawaii-very recent).
2. Group the students and have them assemble the strike-slip fault line model with spaghettiinserted into the slats. Discuss the idea of pre-shocks and after-shocks associated withan earthquake. Using a fault line model built of several layers of colored clay stacked upand sliced at an angle, demonstrate how the foot wall and hanging wall are moving in anormal fault, reverse fault, and strike-slip fault.
3. Talk about shock waves and how waves travel using the slinky.
4. Discuss earthquake measurement and what the Richter scale is.
5. Talk about earthquake resistant construction.
6. Challenge the students to build the tallest, most earthquake resistant building they can out of15 gumdrops and 15 toothpicks.
7. The students should, together with a partner, design their structure and then draw thisstructure in their science journal. They should then write a 2-3 sentence description oftheir structure and why they think the structure they chose will withstand the simulatedearthquake.
8. The students should then be provided with the gumdrops and toothpicks for building.
9. Test the structures using the earthquake simulator. If a building falls over easily, it is removedfrom the contest.
Reflection:
1. What worked?I made a model fault line using clay that seemed to help the students understand how the
reverse and normal faults were different. I think this would have been a good thing for them tohave done themselves, modeling the different fault lines, but we didnt have enough time tocomplete that and use the earthquake simulator. The students were very excited about using theearthquake simulator and competing with the other students for some sort of prize (we gave thempencils). The competition was fierce. Many students built walls around their work area, so thattheir designs would not be copied. Also the students came up with some good ideas, in the end,about what kind of things were important in earthquake-resistant structures.
2. What didnt work?This activity would be more influential if the students had extra time to redesign their
structures after the first run and then test them again. We did not have enough time for thesecond part of the activity. However, perhaps if we used something like clay and plastic rods(coffee stirrers) instead of gumdrops and toothpicks, the students could simply disassemble theirprimary structures and rebuild a secondary one.
3. What would I change for the next time?
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I think I would prefer to include a second testing on the earthquake simulator, using clayor play dough instead of gumdrops.