Earthquake zone!
Year 7 have been learning about natural disasters. Sadly, this task is very relevant to what has just happened in Turkey and Syria.
Earthquakes occur in areas where the Earth’s ‘tectonic plates’ meet. If buildings are to survive an earthquake and cause as little risk to human life as possible, then they need to be very carefully designed.
Year 7 had to imagine that are architects in an earthquake-prone city. They have been asked to design and build a skyscraper as a new headquarters for a major oil company. They had to construct a building so that it is as tall as possible (at least 50 cm) whilst ensuring that it is still able to withstand the challenge of a possible earthquake.
The task rules:
- Construct a building as tall as you can
- You may use only wine gums to join the wooden skewers.
- You must fit your building on to the board/tray provided.
- Finally, your building will be tested in the ‘earthquake zone’. Remember, that you need to balance height against stability. Which will you decide is most important for this task?
We had a lot of fun doing this and ALL the buildings survived….some of the Wine Gums did mysteriously disappear although.
