The topic of today was earthquakes. We learned that the surface of Earth is made of tectonic plates that are always moving. We simulated the movement of the plates using silly putty and two tiles. The silly putty represented the semi liquid layer below tectonic plates and tiles served as the plates. We made the tiles crash against, drift away from, and slip past each other. We also observed how the current configuration of continents differs from the continent configuration from hundred million years ago when all continents were connected into one super continent called Pangea.
Afterwards we read a book that explained us in more details how earthquakes happen, how we measure them and how we protect buildings and bridges in the earthquake sensitive areas. We had an earthquake machine that showed us how the stress builds until it is released in the form of an earthquake. We spent the last part of the lesson by discussing the earthquake safety and putting together a booklet summarizing what to do in case of an earthquake and what supplies will be handy in an emergency kit. Students loved this activity!
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