Earth quake movements learning activity and game.
Materials needed
Large open play area
Foot long pieces of crape paper streamer, one for every two students.
Empty breakfast cereal boxes ideally one per student.
Cardboard tubes from inside paper towels or tubes of paper rolled up and taped two per student.
Small pieces of cardboard one per student
Tape or glue
There are at least four types of ground motions earthquakes make. The first called a P Wave, for primary wave. The P waves can be demonstrated by taking a normal step forward and a small step back, normal step forward and small step back. You expand and contract while moving away from a starting point. P waves can move through liquid.
The next type wave is an S wave or secondary wave. This wave can be demonstrated by walking forward while moving your body from side to side as you move forward. Step left then step right as you move forward along a straight line your body rather stiff. S waves do not travel through liquid.
Of the more destructive waves produced are the Love wave and Rayleigh waves, named for the men that discovered these elements of an earthquake. These waves travel along the surface of the ground. Both get weaker as the move away from the epicenter or starting point of the earthquake.
The love wave also moves from side to side but this time you should try to snake your body from side to side as you walk forward so that with one step your waist is to the left while your feed and head are to the right.
With the Rayleigh wave, the ground moves as an ocean wave moves with an added side to side element. So you will be moving your body up and down so that your head, if it could, would draw a circle in the air as you take steps from side to side.
Have students practice these movements while walking across an open play area.
Allow students to comment on how easy or difficult it is to do each of these movements, and what happens to their bodies while they are doing them. Then add the empty cereal boxes. Have students try walking normally while balancing the boxes on their heads. Then add the earthquake wave movements. Allow students to comment on what happened. Where did the boxes fall in relation to their body movements? Have the students hold their hands open flat with their palms up place the cereal boxes on their hands and repeat the earthquake wave motions. In all these exercises students must stop once the box drops to the floor.
Collect the empty boxes.
Once they have master these movements have them each decide on an earthquake wave movement to use. Or to make sure all waves are present number the students from one to four and those students with number one are P waves, those with two are S waves, Those with three are Love waves and those with four are Rayleigh waves. Have students hold a one foot piece of crape paper streamer by the ends between two students. Stretch out so that the streamer is stretched a bit, making a continuous line of students connected by the streamers. Student streamer, Student streamer.
On your word have the students start moving away from the start of the earthquake or the earthquakes epicenter. Students must stop moving once the crape paper is ripped. Pick up the pieces of crape paper streamer and toss the shortest and hold the longest between students and repeat the game.
Discuss what happens and why.
Have the students first hold a paper tube and place a piece of paper on the tube, then move across the play area using one of the earthquake movements. What happens?
Give students a second paper tube and have them attach it in any way they want to the first tube and repeat the earth quake movements. Which structure survives the longest? Will it survive all wave movements?
Why? Can students build a better earthquake proof structure?
Think of Japan and other places that have earth quakes. What do you think should be done to help reduce damage from earthquakes or things that happen because of earthquakes?
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