Have you ever experienced an earthquake? I have only been in a very mild one in Southern California. It felt like I was dizzy and the room was spinning. It lasted for a very short time and was over almost as quickly as it began. Imagine being in a severe earthquake where your whole house shakes or buildings topple over. That would not be a pleasant experience. But because we live in California and earthquakes are a very real possibility where we are, I thought that an earthquake experiment would be a great activity for my kids.
Not only does this experiment give us the opportunity for education about the surface of the Earth and the way it moves, but it also gives us the opportunity to learn about earthquake safety and what to do if we ever experience one.
To perform the experiment you will need:
-Jello
-Cookie sheet with edges or shallow baking dish
-LEGOs or other blocks for building structures
Step 1:
Make the Jello and place it into the cookie sheet with edges or a shallow baking dish to set.
This thin layer of Jello will act as the Tectonic plates on the Earth’s crust that move. It is important to try and give the Jello a level surface in your fridge to set otherwise the block structures that you make may have a harder time standing on their own.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Make the Jello the day before you plan to do the earthquake experiment. It takes several hours for Jello to set.
Step 2:
Create an example model for your kids.
Make a tall and somewhat narrow building. This will allow the jiggling Jello to knock over the building with ease.
We chose to use our math manipulative blocks to make our structures.
Step 3:
Place your building in the center of your Jello. If you haven’t already, this is a great time to discuss with your child about the Tectonic plates in the Earth and the different ways that they can move.
Next have your child shake the container of Jello until the building falls. They will have so much fun with this part!
Step 4:
Have your child make their own building that is different from yours and try it out in the Jello to see how stable their structure is.
During this time of your children experimenting with their own structures, it is a good idea to explain what makes buildings stable (foundation, reinforced beams and pillars, center of gravity, etc.) if they are old enough to understand these concepts. If they are younger you might want to talk about what stability means and what you can do to make things more stable.
This was especially fun for my older daughter. She loves LEGOs and building anything she can get her hands on. When I gave her the task of making her own building, she chose to make a bridge. Her first attempt was too narrow with not enough support on the bottom and it fell over almost immediately. I asked her thoughts on why it failed to stand then gave her some additional information about stability. She had the chance to make adjustments and try again. The next attempt she made was much more stable and actually was not able to be knocked over by the Jello.
My younger daughter made a really tall and narrow building with a flat base that fell over almost immediately as well. I explained what can happen if there is too much weight at the top of a building. When she had the chance to make adjustments, she made a very short and wide building. When it was time to test it in the Jello her structure remained standing.
Once you’ve finished with the earthquake experiment it would be a good time to brush up on what to do in case of an earthquake. The U.S. Geological Survey has some good information about what to do in this situation. After introducing the idea to your kids you can make it as fun as possible by acting out an earthquake and taking the appropriate actions to take to keep everyone safe.
We all had so much fun with this earthquake experiment. My girls learned about the Earth’s surface, movement, stability, and gravity all while “playing”. They were so proud of themselves for being able to fix the issues in their buildings and actually have them work out. It was such a great learning experience for them and something that I think will be memorable as well.