Earthquake Building Design

Group Name: The Predators:

Groups Members:

Manager - Patricia

Money Manager - Mark

Engineer - Miguel

Day 1:

Question: Explain the forces of earthquakes that affect building stability.

Answer: When two or more plates slam into each other (this kind of plate boundary is a convergent plate boundary), pressure can build up, and energy is released. The energy can be released in P-waves, which are push and pull waves, or S-waves, which are side to side waves. P-waves are stronger because they move the earth up and down, while the weaker S-waves move the earth side to side.

We plan to make a building using a foam board as the base, rollers underneath that, and the building will be made out of popsicle sticks and tape. Cross bracing will be made out of popsicle sticks and rubber bands.

Day 2

Steps:

1. Drew purple lines on the foam board so we would know where to place the popsicle sticks
2. Cut off the rounded edges of the popsicle sticks that we would stick into the base so that it would be more stable
3. Stick cut off side of popsicle stick into foam board
4. Finish frame using more popsicle sticks (not cut) and tape
5. Tape rollers on to the bottom of the four corners of the foam board
6. Reinforce frame with staples (Ms. San Jose said we couldn't do this, but she said that we could use the ones we stapled already
7. Use edges of plastic boards to strengthen popsicle sticks
8. Stick satay stick through two plastic boards and below index card on top
9. Stick satay sticks on all corners and use rubber bands to tie the two satay sticks stacked on top of each other
10. Poke satay sticks through index card and put rubber band around to act as a wall
11. Use cracked satay sticks, broken popsicle sticks, edges of plastic board, and any left over supplies as walls on every floor
12. Fold corners of index cards for walls

Day 3

Question: What are the factors that influence engineers choices for adding structures that make a building more resistant to earthquakes?

Answer: The location of the building, the materials available, and the budget.

Question: What have you learned from this assignment? How have you contributed to the overall project?

Answer: I have learned to use my time wisely and the necessary elements for building an earthquake resistant structure. I have contributed to the overall project by creating our structure.