Earthquakes: Quake & Shake Challenge Part III

Your students have been busy planning, buying and building earthquake-resistant structures... now what? 

Shake Tables
To test just how earthquake resistant the structures are, you may want to invest in a shake table.  You can find these in various science supply catalogs or a quick Internet search will turn up instructions for tables you can build yourself using supplies found at a hardware store. 

I built one of those tables (and by that I mean that my husband built one for me using directions I found) and truth be told, it was big and heavy and didn't work as well as I would have liked given the time and effort put into it.  My kids were far more into the process than the final testing and it probably would have worked just as well to strap their buildings to a skateboard (or better yet, those carts they use in phys ed, with casters so they can move in all directions) and shake them around that way.

Final Write-Up
I had the students assemble a final write-up for the whole project.  Each member of the group was responsible for part of it and it was all compiled into one packet which was submitted to me.

Architect:
An essay answering the following:

1. Describe your group's design idea
2. Why did you decide on that design?
3. How did your design stand up to the "earthquake"?
4. What changes would you make to your design if you were to do this project again?
5. What are the challenges of acting as the team's architect?

Blueprints for your building


Foreperson:
An essay answering the following:

1. Describe the way in which your group members worked together - did you divide up the tasks or share all of them?
2. What could be done to improve the way your group worked together, without changing group members?
3. What strategies would you recommend to a future foreperson to help them help their group work well together?

A procedure detailing the steps you followed in building your structure.


Buyer:
An essay answering the following:

1. Describe the materials used to build your structure.
2. Why did your group choose to use those?
3. What materials would you like to have available for this project?
4. You built a model.  If you were to actually build this structure, what materials would actually be used (instead of Popsicle sticks, hot glue, felt, etc.)?

A list of materials used in building your structure and their approximate quantities.


Accountant:
An essay answering the following:

1. Do you think your group spent their money wisely? Explain.
2. What could your group have done to save money?
3. What are the challenges of acting as the accountant?
4. In the "real world", what expenses would a company have besides materials and employee salaries?
5. What would happen if you went over-budget in the "real world"?

The accounting paperwork.


Evaluation
I've evaluated the project in different ways.  Here are some areas you may wish to consider when evaluating your students' work:
--Designing & Building the Model - use of construction methods and materials
--Testing and Improving the Model - was effort made to test and improve the model along the way?
--Final Product Performance - how did it hold up on the shake table?
--Blueprint
--Final Write-up - well-organized, interesting, clear
--Working Cooperatively with Classmates
--Budget
--Promptness and Completeness

Some years I've given students the opportunity to grade their team members and factored that into their grades

I've also asked them to answer the following questions
--Describe the successes and failures of your group's procedure.
--Evaluate your performance in the group effort.  What did you do?  Should you have done more?  Should you have let others do more?
--Evaluate your group memebers' effort.  Did they work well together?  Did everyone participate?  What could be done to make the group work better together (without changing group members)?


pdf Files
Here's the part you've been waiting for patiently for two weeks - the pdf files you can download - I imagine you'll want to change them to meet your needs, but it's a starting point. 
Quake & Shake Challenge (this the project information sheets and checks for the accountants to use)
Quake & Shake Account (sheet to use when purchasing materials for the groups)
Earthquake Write-Up (final write-up requirements)


Once again, please let me know if you are familiar with the original version of this activity so I can give proper credit - the bulk of this is not original to me. 

Email me or leave a comment with any questions you may have along the way.

And, most of all, have fun with this!  It takes a bit of prep work to get it going, but once you've done it, your students will work independently for several days and have a fabulous time doing so.

But It's Full...

Fill a cup with water.  All the way.  So you can't put another drop in the cup without some spilling out.

How many pennies do you think you can add to the cup before water will spill out? 

One?  Maybe two?

Give it a try....

Once again, we see evidence of water sticking to itself (cohesion) to form a strong surface.

Try again with a drop of soap mixed in with your water...

Acid/Base Chemistry: Goldenrod Paper Indicator

If you can get your hands on some true goldenrod paper, you'll have yourself an indicator paper.

Goldenrod paper turns bright red in the presence of a base. 

The red color can be returned to the goldenrod color with an acid.

Dissolve some baking soda in water or use ammonia to paint and vinegar to erase. 

I know a high school science teacher who, on Halloween, would pretend to cut himself, "wash" his hand (with ammonia) and fling his hand at a sheet of this paper hanging on the board.  Totally freaked his students out!  He lists several other demonstrations using this paper on his website. 

Now, not all goldenrod paper is true goldenrod (i.e. it doesn't contain the real dye/extract), so you'll want to test yours out before passing it along to your students.  Astrobrights Galaxy Gold paper does work, so look for it at office supply stores if you're having a hard time finding paper that works.

DNA: Codon Bingo

Have your students fill in a blank Bingo card with amino acids - there aren't enough amino acids to fill a regular 5x5 card, so allow students to use each amino acid up to 2 times or use a smaller card.

Get 12 ping pong balls or practice golf balls.  Write A on three of them, C on three, G on three, and U on the last three.  Be careful... because the balls don't have an "up" side, C and U can look similar - you might want to put a line underneath each letter.  Place the ping pong balls into a bag or a hat.

Now play Bingo - pull 3 balls out of the bag, one at a time.  Have students translate those three letters into an amino acid and mark it on their Bing card if needed.

Return the balls to the bag, give it a shake and repeat.

You could write out all the 3 base combinations and pull them out of a bag, but I think the balls are more fun!   It would be even more fun if I could get my hands on one of those lottery/Bingo ball machines...

Earthquakes: Quake & Shake Challenge Part II

Last week I gave you an overview of the Quake & Shake Challenge and we left off with students ranking their job choices.

The following day, I let students know their teams and their job within the team.

At this time I also show the materials available for purchase and construction.

Toothpicks - $10 each
Foil - $150 per square foot
Gumdrops - $50 each
Pipe cleaners - $250 each
Yarn - $20 per foot
Clay - $50 per gram
Wood splints - $50 each
Thread - $30 per foot
Elmer's glue - $200 per gram
Rental glue gun - $100 per day
Hot glue sticks - $250 each
Cotton batting - $300 per square foot
Popsicle sticks - $30 each
Tissue paper - $250 per square foot
Rubber bands - $200 each
Plastic wrap - $100 per square foot
Floss - $25 per foot
Fishing line - $20 per foot
Wax paper - $175 per square foot
Felt - $375 per sheet
Cotton balls - $25 each

I would recommend you have a glue gun available for each team, as that is what they all seem to want to use - I use the low temp mini glue guns.  I guess you could limit the ones available and force them to go in other directions...  I would also recommend having an abundance of Popsicle sticks on hand as that seems to be a favored building material.

We also discuss a few other fees and fines..

Consultant Fees:
The teacher's role in this process is to act as a consultant.  If you have a question that the group cannot answer, you may pay the consultant $200 for each question.  Be sure to phrase the question carefully so that the response is not too simple (yes or no).

Fines:
Any item purchased must be incorporated in the model.  There is a penalty fee of $500 for each missing item.

Any group that does not clean up before class is over will be penalized $1000 for each safety violation. 


Armed with all this information as well as a team folder (containing plain white paper, graph paper, accounting ledgers, "checks" and shopping sheets) I send the teams off to begin planning.

While the teams are planning and sketching, I call the accountants together.  I provide each team with "checks" (each team's is printed on a different color paper) and a checkbook ledger.  With all of the accountants together, I show them how to fill in the checks and how to maintain the ledger.  The students interested in the accountant job are usually interested  in knowing this and it provides them with a real-world lesson.


The following day students can begin construction.  Since I taught a few grade levels, I had a cart loaded with all of the supplies available for purchase that I would roll out for the appropriate class periods. 

Next Tuesday we'll talk about testing the buildings, a group write-up/paper and tie up any other loose ends.  I will also try to make my documents available for you to download.

Measurement: Mix & Match Mass

This activity comes from Science Spot. Visit her site to find a ready-made-worksheet (and spend awhile looking around... you'll find a whole year's worth of great activities).

Provide students with a container of objects - I literally wander around my room gathering a collection of objects. Make sure you have objects that have a small mass (1 g or less) as well as larger/more massive objects (not pictured here), and that the sum of masses of all objects totals at least 400 g.

Students choose items (one or many) from the container that they believe will be closest to the target mass. After making their guess, they find the actual mass of the object(s) they selected.

Website: Marcia's Science Teaching Ideas

Marcia Krech's website, Marcia's Science Teaching Ideas, is filled with a lot of ideas for teaching Earth science.  There are many files that you can print off and use as long as you keep her copyright in tact.  Many of the activities are paper-based: worksheets, flashcards, etc.  There are some labs and some kinesthetic activities mixed in as well. 

For those of you who don't teach Earth science topics, you might find the sections on the metric system and experimental design helpful. 

Marcia also sells CDs of materials for a variety of topics, if that is something that is of interest to you.  Many of the CDs include PowerPoint presentations related to the topic as well as materials you can print off.  I don't have any first hand knowledge of the materials (just what's listed on her page), as I've only ever perused the free materials. 

Another source to add to your growing list...