Spaghetti Web Quest Engineering Project

Task- The Spaghetti Skyscraper

"Our greatest glory consists not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."

Oliver Goldsmith

This quote by Oliver Goldsmith is one to keep in mind as your group completes this webquest. Your group's task will be to research, design, and then create an earthquake resistant tower using uncooked spaghetti noodles. Once you have constructed your model it will then be tested on a specially built earthquake shake table. This shake table is designed to replicate the different motions and stresses of an actual earthquake's seismic waves. Your model should be able to withstand a minimum of a 10 second earthquake without collapsing and keep its residents, a golf ball, safe during the earthquake.

Your team will be competing against the other members of the class to build the best structure in each class and overall. Your team will be required to give a brief presentation before the shake table showdown. In this presentation your group will share the findings of your research and how it helped you design your structure.

Feel free to use the following links to get your research started, but you should find information beyond what is provided here. Any resources that you do use should be included on a works cited page as part of your presentation.

Resources

Building Big: Skyscrapers

Fault Line: Seismic Science

Introduction

One of the harsh realities of life on planet Earth means that many people are at some level of risk of having their lives impacted by an earthquake, hurricane, or tornado. For most of us, we don't really think about the constant risk of a disaster or even what would we would do if one did occur. For people whose job it is to create urban and regional disasters plans, these threats are on the forefront of there everyday lives.

The scenario for this webquest is based on a hypothetical request made by the city planners of a nearby city. The city planners of this town are concerned about the increasing chance of a large impacting their city at some point in the future. This concern has lead them to contact your company for help. Your company has a strong track record of building hurricane resistant buildings in parts of Florida and South Carolina. You and your team have been tasked with creating a working model of a structure that is designed to be earthquake resistant.

To give you and your group some added motivation to create the best earthquake resistant structure possible, watch this video clip about the damage an earthquake can produce.

Process- Project Procedures

  1. Each member of a group will assume one of the four roles within the group.
    1. Note: These roles only mean that you oversee the assigned task, everyone is expected to help in the completion of the entire project!!
    • Architect- responsible for making an architectural drawing/plan of the structure before construction can begin.
    • Treasure- responsible for financial matters for the team (making and sticking to the budget).
    • Technology Director- responsible for collecting / presenting internet research data.
    • Project Manager- responsible for obtaining / managing building materials and clean-up.
  2. Search the internet for information and research that will help you create a design for your tower. I have provided several links to get you started in the RESOURCES section of this page. The links provided are only to help get your search started, don't think that you are expected to get all of your information from only these sites. Your group's research should address the following topics:
      • Which directions does the ground move during an earthquake?
      • What are some design elements that actual engineers use to make buildings more earthquake resistant.
      • Any other information that you think is helpful.
        1. Note: All of the resources that you use must be cited in a works cited page at the end of your presentation
  3. The group architect will oversee the creation of a design blueprint using paper or construction paper. Your blueprint must be made to scale and your structural design must follow these requirements:
    • It must support a golf ball no less than 40 centimeters off of the desk surface.
    • The final design must be very similar to the blueprint drawing.
    • The blueprint should have a parts lists which shows all of the parts needed to build your structure.
    • Your design should follow the design principles suggested in your research. You will need to highlight these suggestions as part of your presentation.
  4. Your group has a total budget of $6000. All of the raw materials that you will need to build your structure must be purchased from the hardware store (Mr. Shiffer) using one of the 3 checks provided to each group. A purchase order listing each of the materials that you need and completed check cover the cost of the entire order must be given to the store before you get the building materials delivered to your group.
    1. Building Materials Price List:
  5. Code of conduct during construction:
    • Spaghetti sticks can be broken but they must be no less than 2.5cm in length to be used.
    • Marshmallows must remain intact!
    • Construction materials CAN NOT be eaten at any time!
    • The egg can not be taped to the structure in any way.
    • You can only use the materials purchased by your team from the hardware store. You are not permitted to use outside materials or those purchased from other teams.
    • Your group will be provided with all of the tools that you need and an egg when you test.
    • Remember that both wasted materials and keeping a messy workstation will be counted against you.
  6. Before we test the final products, each group will make a short presentation of their structure. As part of the presentation your group should explain how your research helped you create the design and why you thought this design would best protect the egg during the earthquake.

This video clip shows a large scale version of what you have to do for this webquest.

The tower on the left of this video is built on a fixed foundation.

The tower on the right is built on an experimental "floating" foundation.

Conclusions- How did your building do?

The quote lead off this webquest said that "earthquakes don't kill people, buildings do".

Now that you have seen the damage that an earthquake can produce to a structure you

have a firsthand perspective on why this statement is so true.

Modern enigeering as progressed to the point where an earthquake in a large city does

not mean thousands of deaths. Yet, these construction methods are often quite costly

and not built in unless building codes require them.

The video below shows what can happen when well engieered structures take a direct

hit from a large earthquake. With any luck, this webquest will be as close as you will

ever get seeing an earthquake in action.