Shake it Up!

It is finally time to begin our earthquake project.  Shake it up!
We will learn from the past and prepare for the future.

Essential Question: How can we use information from past earthquakes to design safer structures for the future?

The project will be in three phases…

1. How do earthquakes work?: Students will learn about the earth’s dynamic structure and how plate movement causes earthquakes.
o Earth’s structure
o Classroom earthquake plot

2. How have earthquakes caused damage in the past? Students will research historically large earthquakes
o Historical Article
o Damage analysis (earthquake preparedness)

3. How can we design earthquake safe structures?: Students will research safe earthquake building ideas and create the following:
o Blue print of design
o Outline of earthquake safe components
o Physical structure to tested on shake table
o Analysis of earthquake readiness


Extension Opportunities for students who want an extra challenge could include the following:

Predicting the next big one…
• Using all of the information we have learned about earthquakes, predict where and when the next big one is going to be.
How would Innovations Academy fare in an earthquake…
• Using our building design ideas, complete a building analysis of Innovations Academy and determine how prepared we are for a large earthquake.

I am so excited to start this project that links math and science together in such an interactive way!  You can check out the Earthquake Project Page for research links.