While we were learning about earthquakes we had three hands on projects to go with it. The first was a Vegan "Jello" Earthquake Demo, A model Seismometer and lastly we had a STEM challenge: Build an earthquake resistant structure. 

Vegan "Jello" Earthquake Demo

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what you will need:

  • 1 teaspoon Agar Agar Powder
  • 2 cups juice of choice (we used summer fruits)
  • small toy people or animals
  • parchment paper
  • scissor
  • knife

Instructions:

  1. Place into a pan, bring to a boil and then turn down the heat and cook for an additional 4 minutes, whisking constantly.
  2. place in an 8x8 dish that has been lined with parchment paper
  3. Let set in the fridge for a few hours.
  4. Once your Jello has been set, carefully lift it out of the dish and cut it in half. Be sure to cut the paper in half as well. And place each half of jello back together so you cannot see that it has been cut in half.
  5. Ask your kids to place their small toys on top of the jello. Remind them that earthquakes happen when plates move against each other in a transform boundary. In this experiment the jello will be the plates.

This is a super simple experiment but really helped the kids visualise a bit more what could happen when an Earthquake happens. Also anything edible in this house is already guaranteed to be a winner and they especially enjoyed eating it afterwards!

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A model Seismometer

Earthquakes are detected using a seismometer which detects vibrations in the earth. We made a very simple model of a seismometer to demonstrate how they work.

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what you will need:

  • shoebox
  • paper cup
  • felt tip marker
  • scissors
  • string
  • clear tape
  • long strand of paper

Instructions:

  1. make two holes in the top of the box
  2. make one hole in the centre of the bottom of the cup (this is where the tip of the marker will go) and also two holes on either side of the top of the cup.
  3. push your marker just a couple of cm through the hole
  4. thread your string through the hole in the top of the cup and tie a knot and then thread it through the top two holes of the box and back down to the other side of the cup and tie another knot. The cup should be dangling down inside the box. you need to tie the string so that the pen rests on the bottom of the box.
  5. make two slits at either side of the bottom of the box and cut a length of paper that will pass through the slits. 
  6. Thread paper through the slits
  7. place your very own Seimometer on a flat surface and have someone shake the box gently while someone pulls the paper.
  8. you should see a wiggly line on the paper and the more you shake the box the wider the lines will be.

This was a great hit in our house! Both of them really loved playing with this and had lots of fun predicting earthquakes!

STEM challenge: Build an earthquake resistant structure 

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Remind your kids that many places on the planet have regular earthquake activity and that the buildings there will have been adapted to withstand Earthquakes. In this challenge there are two requirements: They must make a structure at least 8 inches tall and it must stay upright when you slide it around on the table.  

what you will need:

  • A large, sturdy book
  • a bag of mini-marshmallows
  • toothpicks
  • a measuring tape 

Instructions:

  1. Give your kids the supplies and let their imaginations take over! 
  2. Once finished enjoy a tasty snack!