Sixth Graders Construct Earthquake Proof Structures in Science Lab

As a culminating activity for a unit on earthquakes and in conjunction with learning about the design and engineering process, sixth grade students were charged with creating an earthquake-proof structure.

After researching the qualities that allow buildings to withstand earthquakes, groups were given 30 straws, 100 paperslips, 3m of string and glue to build their structure. The structures must be able to bear a 250g weight on each floor and were tested on an earthquake table that simulated a tremor, a quake and a super quake.