Earth Science

The sixth grade has spent the last few weeks learning about our Earth’s plate boundaries and earthquakes. They have seen how each plate boundary has moved our continents to where they are today and are continuing to move them. Students have researched historic earthquakes and reported on them to the class. They also learned about new technologies that help those in earthquake zone areas stay safe in buildings.

Along with this, the students were tasked with building a four story building that could withstand an earthquake. The students were allowed to use different earthquake building technologies which can reduce the shaking to a building. These included x-braces, cross braces, mass-dampers and extended building shapes. Each student created their own design and we tested them to see which building would allow for the least amount of shaking.