Yesterday’s 4.8 magnitude earthquake gave New Jersey a shake, but students at Borough School in Morris Plains already knew a thing or two about engineering for stability.  With a grant from the Education Foundation of Morris Plains, Borough School science teacher Laura Lano introduced an earthquake simulation engineering design project to her 5th and 6th grade students. The unit challenges the students to consider how buildings are designed to meet both the needs of their inhabitants and the constraints of their surrounding environment.

Working in small groups, students design and construct model buildings to withstand (stay intact and upright) during an earthquake simulation with the EQs Tremor Table from Pitsco Education. After testing initial designs, students can improve their building before testing a second and final design. This innovative and experiential learning allows students to apply the engineering design process to a real-world scenario.