Project Ideas:
1) Earthquake prediction - investigate and find out if anyone
has a consistent successful way to predict earthquakes. If now, why were they
not successful. Come up with your own idea for predicting earthquakes, and test
it. Explain why it did or did not work.
2) Earthquake myths - examine earthquake myths and
interview people about these myths to find out what they think. What would be
the best way to get rid of myths? Is there any group of people who tend to
believe myths more? Older people? Younger people? Other groups?
3) Seismic waves - what types of seismic waves are
there? What do they look like on a seismogram (recording)? What effects do
different kinds of waves have on different kinds of buildings?
4) World-wide earthquake hazards
- which areas around the world are most vulnerable to earthquakes and why? What
are the major problems dealing with earthquakes in different areas?
5) Earthquake preparedness - find the
most effective ways to prepare for an earthquake. Test the effectiveness of
different types of earthquake brackets and straps, etc. Determine the safest
places to be inside the house, outside, in car, etc. Prepare on earthquake plan
for your family, class, school.
6) Earthquake risks - investigate the current earthquake
risks in your area. If there are none currently, have there ever been
earthquakes there in the past? Why, and why aren't there any now?
7) Plate tectonic model - build a model that simulates plate
motions and their effects.
8) Tsunamis - demonstrate how a tsunami is created.
9) Plate tectonics - cut a world map along the plate
boundaries, and try to fit the pieces back together like they were millions of
years ago. Observe how each piece has moved to its current position.
10) Fault models - make models of different kinds of
faults and investigate the tectonic setting of each (where are these types of
faults generally found?).
11) Earthquake-proof buildings - try to
design a building that can withstand an earthquake. What works? What doesn't
work? Why?
12) Seismograph - make a seismograph.
13) Monitoring earthquakes - monitor
earthquakes locally, regionally, or globally, and plot them on a map.
14) Locating an earthquake - show how
earthquakes are located. Create a fictional story about an earthquake and write
a news story with a map showing the epicenter.
15) Stress & strain - make a mode to show how stress and
strain affect different materials (wood, silly putty, etc.)
16) Earthquake & volcanoes - investigate
how earthquakes and volcanoes are related.
17) Magnitude & intensity - show the
difference between magnitude and intensity. What controls the magnitude of an
earthquake? What affects the shaking intensity?
18) Earthquakes on other planets - do
earthquakes occur on other planets? Which ones? Why or why not?
19) San Andreas Fault - learn about the different segments of
the San Andreas Fault. Demonstrate how each segment behaves differently and why.
20) Other ideas to brainstorm: interior of
the earth, earthquakes & roads, earthquakes & buildings, earthquakes and
the Eastern US, "Ring of Fire".
Page created by Kay Howley, Donna Macdonald
and Dayle Wright
Orchard School faculty members
This page last updated: 06/22/05 .