Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (MCEER)

Earthquake Center Brings "Quake & Shake" Contest to Third-Graders

The Earthquake Engineering Research Center MCEER, headquartered at the University at Buffalo, holds a "Quake & Shake" contest with local students each year as a fun way to teach them about earthquakes. The program is part of MCEER's goal of increasing K-12 students' knowledge and excitement about science and engineering.

The MCEER ERC took its 2006 Quake & Shake contest to a group of 24 third-graders at the Sheridan Hill Elementary School in Clarence, New York. MCEER Deputy Director Andre Filiatrault visited the class weeks before the event to talk about earthquake design and offer pointers on the contest.

The students were given 150 popsicle sticks, a bottle of Elmer's glue, and a roll of dental floss with which to build a structure that supported a masonry brick held a foot above a wooden base. The models were tested on a shake table at the university that simulated ground motions that occurred during historical earthquakes. The structures were then subjected to the designed "UB Rumble," a long and strong series of ground motions, until they all collapsed.

After the UB Rumble, all the structures were declared "earthquake proof" and each student received a certificate naming him or her an "honorary structural engineer." The event was covered by local media, including CBS Channel 4's "Why Guy," Kevin O'Neill.

To learn more about this topic:
Visit the MCEER education website at http://mceer.buffalo.edu/education/k-12/05QuakeandShake/default.asp

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Third-graders show off the popsicle-stick structures
they built to withstand earthquake-like conditions in
the Quake & Shake event.

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Last modified: April 11, 2007