Movers and Shakers

By Nicholas Harth & Megan Perkey •

Grade Level	7th
Subject Area	General Science Class – Plate Tectonics
Duration	6 classes of 60 minutes a piece
Background Knowledge	This lesson occurred as part of a unit in plate tectonics; however, it was primarily directed towards the destructive effects and prevention strategies associated with earthquakes. The previous unit that the students had covered in class dealt with the concept of waves; therefore, they were already familiar with terms such as “frequency” and “amplitude.” This made it much easier introduce concepts such as natural frequency, resonance, and damping.
Author	Nicholas Harth & Megan Perkey

Summary
Throughout the first part of this lesson, the students are introduced to the concepts of frequency, amplitude, acceleration, stiffness, resonance, natural frequency, and damping. They then participate in several exploratory activities that illustrate those concepts in a hands-on atmosphere. The second part of the lesson is a one hour movie about one particularly destructive earthquake that took place in northern California. This is meant to illustrate the reality of the situation to students. In part three, they are taught about the effects that earthquakes have on buildings by simulating the event on a shake table. They also discuss some of the basic design techniques that civil engineers use to help them to sustain such forces. The students then have the opportunity to build their own structures (from a variety of materials) and test them out on the shake table.

Objectives
1. Student will be able to define the above vocabulary words and have a general understanding of the scientific concepts. 2. Student will be able to describe an earthquake in terms of frequencies. 3. Student will be able to identify the natural frequency of an object. 4. Student will understand what determines the natural frequency of an object. 5. Student will be able to explain how and why earthquakes are destructive. 6. Student will be able to contribute ideas to the design of a building that is meant to withstand an earthquake. 7. Student will have some knowledge of specific historical earthquakes.

Mateirals Required
Guitar, rubber bands, stop watch, 2x4 wood pieces, saw, metal wiring, tennis balls, Loma Prieta earthquake movie, TV/VCR, data projector, laptop computer, model buildings of different height and weight, shake table, building materials (Styrofoam, cardboard, Lego, play-dough, felt, pipe cleaners, masking tape, duct tape, rubber cement, foam, Dow rods, bubble wrap, construction paper, and film canisters for example).

Ohio Standards

Science Standards

EARTH and SPACE SCIENCES: Grades 6-8
• Describe the processes that contribute to the continuous changing of the Earth’s surface (e.g. earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, erosion, mounting building)

PHYSICAL SCIENCES
• Demonstrate that waves transfer energy.
• Demonstrate that vibrations in materials may produce waves that spread away from the source in all directions (e.g. earthquakes).
• Use historic examples to explain how new ideas are limited by the context in which they are conceived; are often initially rejected by the scientific establishment; sometimes spring from unexpected findings; and usually grow slowly through contributions from many different investigators (eg plate tectonics theory)
• Demonstrate that waves (eg sound, seismic, light) have energy and waves can transfer energy when they interact with each other.
• Describe how the change in the position of an object is always judged and described in comparison to a reference point.

Technology Standards

SCIENCE and TECHNOLOGY: Grades 6-8
• Give examples of how technological advances, influenced by scientific knowledge, affect the quality of life.
• Design a solution of product taking into account needs and constraints (cost, time, tradeoffs, etc.)

Documents

Lesson Plan