Can It Survive the Shake? Students Engineer for Earthquakes

As the shaking began, students held their breath and counted down together—“Ten, nine, eight, seven…”—hoping their carefully designed and constructed toothpick buildings would still be standing when they reached “one.” 

The biennial fifth- and sixth-grade Rumbles project is one of the most anticipated of Marin Horizon School’s Engineering & Innovation Night. Student teams spend weeks designing and building structures that are then tested on a platform simulating a large-scale earthquake. Spoiler: there were some casualties, but the vast majority survived!

 

The Challenge: How can we design and engineer a building to survive an earthquake?

The Rumbles Project is a month-long earthquake engineering unit created by middle school science teacher Nicole Rothschild. Framed by the driving question–How can we design and engineer a building to survive an earthquake?–the project challenges students to think and work like real architects and engineers.

While many of us adults may recall toothpick or popsicle-stick building projects from our own school days, the Rumbles Project pushes far beyond that. The work is demanding, realistic, and deeply engaging—an experience students remember long after the shaking stops.

“This is our big fifth and sixth grade STEM and engineering project. Since we live in an earthquake prone area, right along the San Andreas fault, it’s a perfect project to complement our understanding of earthquake engineering,” explained Middle School Science Teacher Nicole Rothschild.

Leading up to the project, Nicole’s fifth and sixth graders learned about tectonic plates, how earthquakes happen, and where they happen–including mapping of different earthquakes around the world. They also learned about earthquake triangulation to estimate a quake’s epicenter.

Thinking LIke Earthquake Architects and Engineers

The Design Challenge combined fifth and sixth graders into “Earthquake Engineering firms” who would compete for a bid with “Marin Horizon Developers” to design a structure that would survive an earthquake. Each group would decide whether to build the strongest tower, the tallest tower, the most creative tower, or the cheapest tower.

Design constraints included the following:

• Each structure will be made solely of toothpicks and wood glue.
• Structures must be at least six stories tall.
• Structures must be able to support a mass of 500g during the shaking.
• Structures will be tested on a shake table, while seismic data is recorded.

Just as professional architects and engineers would, students sketched and revised proportional designs; conducted cost analysis of materials, labor, and permits, for their project; built their models and collaborated on final reports and presentations.

Teacher Nicole shared, “So some kids went straight into building a 3D shape, while other kids would build, like, a square or a triangle 2D, and then attach those different parts together. And so the kids that took a slower route ended up having more uniform shapes that ended up being stronger in the end.”

At times, they felt pressure to get as much done in a class period as possible, exacerbated by the 24 hours needed for glue to harden. Occasionally a tower would go down, followed by cries of frustration. Says Nicole, “They have to guild it back up. But that resilience and that grit is totally part of this project.”

Students Get a Lesson in Meshing Ideas and Working Styles

Says teacher Nicole, “I think that one of the things this project highlights is the difference in working styles. You have some kids that can see the end so clearly and others that are really just looking at the next step ahead.” She explains that the difference in the way kids think fosters communication and real collaboration—students have to share their ideas, challenge one another, and find a way to move forward together. It’s one of the most valuable parts of the project. Communication and collaboration also happens to be a foundational principle of science as well. 

Student Vivi R. shared, “There were a lot of ups and downs in the project.” It was challenging to create a blueprint, and to construct the tower. There was a limited time frame. It was challenging to get agreement among teammates.” 

A number of students shared that there were disagreements and even arguments among team members in which approach to take. Some felt a triangle was the right design, while others preferred a cylinder. Student Isla H. explained, “Everyone kind of wanted their own thing, so we had to merge our ideas together.”

Discussing how his team was able to make decisions, student Marsden L. shared that both  flexibility and leadership of group members was helpful. “It all worked out. We all got something out of it.”

A Shaky and Rewarding Finish!

The excitement was palpable as students gathered on the evening of the November 20 Engineering and Ingenuity Night. Each team presented their tower to a standing-room audience of families, faculty, and friends. The stakes were high as groups of structures were put to the test on teacher Nicole’s shaking table for a full ten seconds. 

“The erupting of cheers when kids won was really cool,” said student Knight B. And the relief of students was also tangible.

Asked whether there were any buildings that stood out, teacher Nicole shared, “Well, there were two that had really abstract ideas, and I said, okay you guys, this is gonna be really expensive, really time consuming, and I don't know how you're gonna pull it off. But they were so dedicated, and they came in at recess and lunch and really worked to get it done. And it didn't end up being as structurally sound, but I love that I had never seen a design like that before. and they still did such a great job during the final presentations. 

In reflecting on their experience, Nicole says, “I want them to have an appreciation for the architecture they see, and I hope that they walk away thinking about how buildings are made with intention.”

When asked, What did you learn? Student Vivi R. replied, “Being an architect is really hard!” And student Zaira V. shared, “Pyramids are the best shape to build for a building because they are the most sturdy.”

Huh. Maybe that’s why this building is still standing in San Francisco…