Building Safety for Earthquake Prone Areas

Name: ______Period: ______

STEM Project:

Shake, Rattle and Roll

Building Safety for Earthquake Prone Areas

Most earthquake-related deaths and injuries result from damage to buildings and other structures. To reduce earthquake damage, new buildings must be made stronger and more flexible. Older buildings may be modified to withstand stronger waves. People can protect their homes from the damages of earthquakes. Some steps that can make houses earthquake-safe are: bolting the house to its concrete foundation, strapping the water heater to the wall, using plywood panels to strengthen walls, removing heavy items from walls above beds, and fastening bookshelves/cabinets/tall dressers to wall studs.

The way in which a building is constructed determines whether it can withstand an earthquake. During an earthquake, brick buildings and some wood-frame buildings may collapse if their walls have not been reinforced, or strengthened. To combat damage caused by liquefaction, new homes built on soft ground should be anchored to solid rock below the soil. Bridges and highway overpasses can be built on supports that go through soft soil to firmer ground.

Name: ______Period: ______

STEM Project Break Down

Day 1: Introduction

Day 2 & 3: Designing/Sketch

Day 4-6: Engineering

Day 7 & 8: Testing

Day 9: PowerPoint

Day 10: Presentations

Table of Contents

Building Safety … Page 1

Challenge … Page 2

Sketch/Materials Count … Page 3

Testing Results … Page 4

Analysis Questions … Page 5

Conclusion Tips … Page 6

STEM Lab Report Checklist … Page 7

PowerPoint Directions … Page 8

Name: ______Period: ______

Challenge

You and your group have been hired as structural engineers in charge of designing and constructing a three-story, earthquake proof building.

Building Requirements:

• must have 3 stories
• each story must have a floor
• must have a flat roof
• cannot have solid walls (they should be more like scaffolding)

Purpose of Lab/STEM Project: To engineer a building that will withstand Primary waves, Secondary waves, Love waves and Rayleigh waves for a minimum of 5 seconds each.

Hypothesis: ______

Materials:

• craft sticks
• wood splints
• toothpicks
• glue
• shaker board

Sketch of Building

List of Materials with Estimated Amounts:

Create a bar graph below showing the time each group’s building was able to withstand each type of wave. Use a different color to identify each type of wave.

Materials Tally by group:

Analysis Questions

1. During construction how did you test the strength and stability of your structure? ______

2. During construction what strategies did you use to strengthen the weaker areas? Why? ______

3. What were the strongest parts of your building? Why? ______

4. What were the weakest parts of your building? Why? ______

5. During testing, which group’s buildings were the most successful? What caused them to be successful? ______

6. During testing, which group’s buildings were the least successful? What caused them to be unsuccessful? ______

Conclusion Tips

Answer the questions here and use the information to help write your lab conclusion in paragraph form.

Restate your purpose (in your own words)

______

Was your hypothesis correct or incorrect?

______Support your statement (about your hypothesis) with data from your data chart. Explain why it was correct or incorrect.

______Identify errors in your lab (What factors could have affected the data in the lab?)

______How could the lab been different? (What would you have done differently?)

______

Lab Report Checklist

Before you hand in your lab report complete the following checklist to ensure you earn the best grade

_____ Do I have a title page?

_____ Name of Lab

_____ My Name

_____ Due Date of Lab (May 20, 2013)

_____ Lab Partners Names

______Did I label and include all needed parts of my lab?

_____ Problem/Purpose

_____ Hypothesis

_____ Materials

_____ Procedures

_____“Procedures: See Attached STEM Procedure”

_____ Data (Sketch, Bar Graph, Materials used Tally)

_____“Data: See Attached STEM Procedure”

_____ Analysis Questions (Write out questions and answers in complete sentences!)

_____ Conclusion

_____ Did I include my rough draft?

_____ Did I include this STEM Packet?

_____ Did I include my MaxlorBurgsano Scale paper?

_____ Did I try my hardest on the lab?

*If you can check each of these then you are ready to turn in your lab, staple everything together and turn it in!

PowerPoint Presentation

You and your group must create a three slide PowerPoint presentation on your STEM project.

Your Presentation must include the following:

• Slide 1
• Explain the design of your building
• List materials used
• Slide 2
• Results from testing your building
• How did your building stand up to each type of wave?
• Time?
• Slide 3
• Conclusion to your project
• What would you do to improve results, if engineering a new structure?

During your presentation, each member of your group will be expected to speak.