Stratton Elementary School

MAE Center graduate students presented an earthquake preparedness and safety program with a shakes and quakes activity to the gifted and talented classes in both 2 nd and 3 rd grade at Stratton Elementary School, Champaign, IL on April 22, with a return trip to the schools’ Science Fair on May 5 for testing the structures. The shakes and quakes activity is a two-week project where students build structures out of LEGOs and K'nex to investigate the effects of earthquakes on concrete buildings (LEGOs) and steel buildings (K'nex). The purpose of the activity is to

introduce elementary and middle school students to the various factors contributing to the design of structures in seismic regions, including the competing constraints of form and function, economics and most importantly its ability to survive a major earthquake. Students were divided into teams of four or five (Building Owner, Architect, Structural Engineer, and Construction Manager) and had two weeks to design and build theirstructures.