Courtney was live as resident "Science Mom" on ABC's "View from the Bay" last week. Tune in as she talks about science literacy, the basics of earthquakes, tectonic plates, P-waves, and the importance of putting real-world science into concrete and hands-on form in front of (and with) your students and kids.
Her on-air demonstration of the "shake table" created as part of the Set Your Table for a Sweet and Sticky Earthquake Shake science fair project idea (Science Buddies' difficulty level: 4) shows how easy it can be to set up a project that can demonstrate a number of variables and scientific principles. Using household items like sugar cubes, marbles, peanut butter, a puzzle box lid, cornstarch, and Play-Doh, Courtney explains how the project can be used to highlight the fact that while what a house is made of is important, you also have to evaluate what a house is built upon.
There is plenty of room for students to formulate questions and hypotheses as they predict the outcome of an earthquake on various kinds of simulated soil. They can also expand the project to look at differences in architectural design and building materials.
If you try this project in your class, let us know how it goes!
(Courtney also appeared on "View from the Bay" in June. Did you miss it? Catch up here as she demonstrates acids and bases with "Cabbage Chemistry.")