Naperville students' model buildings endure earthquake test
The cellphones were set to video mode in Anna Zuccarini's seventh-grade gifted science classes Wednesday at Crone Middle School in Naperville as students watched to see how long model buildings they constructed could survive a simulated earthquake.
Some made it a second, others lasted 30 seconds and one even withstood an aftershock.
"The students were all videotaping it and I know they're going to go home and analyze it," Zuccarini said.
The simulation came after students spent two weeks constructing 10-gram, 15-inch-tall buildings from lightweight wood and Elmer's glue as part of an earthquake unit that incorporated teamwork, planning and analysis.
Using a $1,000 vibrating earthquake simulator, Zuccarini tried to topple each of the 16 buildings her students made by collaborating in teams of three or four.
All of the buildings supported metal plates added to them before the vibrations began. But only three made it through the simulated earthquake. Students often learn it's not the complexity of the design that counts.
"A simple design may survive better if it's constructed well," Zuccarini said.
After the simulation, students will complete a design journal, analyze what they could have done better and rank each structure. The winner will receive an extra point toward their grade.
"It's just enough to motivate them," Zuccarini said.