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Timescale of Earth's EventsActivity for Kids

Shake Table DIY

Duration: 30 min
Difficulty: Medium
Cost: $0 to $5

Make a shake table to test different building designs!

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Material List

2Textbooks
4Marbles
2Large rubber bands
30Sugar cubes

Instructions

1Use two large rubber bands to secure two textbooks together.
2Place four marbles in-between the two books.
3Make sure the marbles are close to the corners but will not fall out when shaking.
4On top of the books, build a sugar cube house that’s three cubes high and three cubes wide.
5Now push and pull on the top book to simulate an earthquake.
6Try building structures of different sizes and shapes to see which one is best.

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How It Works

A shake table can help engineers build earthquake-proof buildings. Buildings that are tall will shake more than buildings that are close to the ground. With this in mind, engineers can use what they learned from using a shake table to change designs to keep buildings from falling down and hurting people during an earthquake.