Module 4: Earthquake Engineering
Vocabulary (students were given a packet with vocabulary and definitions)
DRIVING QUESTION 1
LESSONS 1-5
natural disaster
a dangerous event caused by nature
An earthquake is a natural disaster.
earthquake
shaking of the Earth caused by moving plates
The ground started to shake because of the earthquake.
tsunami
A large wave caused by an earthquake
The tsunami reached the shore quickly.
volcano
An opening where lava erupts
The volcano erupted lava.
energy transfer
When energy moves from one place to another
Waves shows energy transfer through water.
waves
Movement that carries energy
Waves carried energy across the water.
Point of impact
Where something hits
Waves spread from the point of impact.
amplitude
The distance from the middle of a wave to its highest point (how strong the wave is).
The bigger rocks made waves with larger amplitude.
wavelength
The distance between waves
The water had a long wavelength.
seismic waves
Waves caused by earthquakes
Seismic waves shake the ground.
DRIVING QUESTION 2
LESSONS 1-5
ocean
A very large body of water
The Pacific Ocean is the largest.
Pacific Ocean
The largest ocean on Earth
The Pacific Ocean is the largest ocean on Earth.
Atlantic Ocean
A large ocean between Americas, Europe, and Africa
The Atlantic Ocean separates North America from Europe.
ring of fire
An area around the Pacific Ocean with many earthquakes
Many earthquakes happen in the ring of fire.
elevation
How high a place is above sea level
The mountain has a high elevation.
mountain range
A group of mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a mountain range.
belt
A long, narrow area
The ring of fire is a belt around the Pacific Ocean.
pattern
Something that repeats
Scientist study earthquake patterns.
tectonic plates
Pieces of earth’s crust
Moving tectonic plates cause earthquakes.
fault
A crack in Earth’s crust where movement happens
Earthquakes often happen near a fault.
fault line
A visible break in Earth’s crust
The map shows a fault line.
latitude
Distance North and South of the equator
Lines of latitude run East to West.
longitude
Distance East to West of the Prime Meridian
Longitude lines run North to South.
DRIVING QUESTION 3
LESSONS 1-2
dead load
The weight of the structure itself
Concrete adds to the dead load of a building.
live load
Weight of people and objects in the building
Furniture adds to live load.
horizontal load
Force pushing on the sides of structures
Earthquakes cause horizontal loads.
compression (squeezing)
A force that squeezes something
That held up well under compression.
tension (stretching)
A pulling force
The rope snapped under tension.
torsion (twisting)
A twisting force
Torsion caused the spaghetti to break.
bending
Changing something from straight to curved
The ruler broke after to much bending.
DRIVING QUESTION 5
LESSONS 2-3
civil engineer
A person who design and builds roads and building
A civil engineer designs bridges to be safe.
structures
Buildings or objects with a purpose
Bridges and towers are structures.
forces
Pushes or pulls that affect movement
Strong forces can damage buildings.
mistakes
Errors that help us learn
Mistakes help us improve our structures.
materials
What objects are made from
We tested different materials for strength.
engineering design process
Steps engineers use to solve problems
We followed the engineering design process.
problem
Something that needs a solution
Engineers solve problems using models.
criteria
Goals or rules used to judge something
One criterion was the tower must stand for 10 seconds.
constraints
Rules of limits
One constraint was only using five materials.
brainstorm
Share ideas freely to solve problems
Our group brainstormed ideas for a stronger building.
design
A plan made before building
Our design helped keep the building standing.
test
To try something to see if it works
We tested the building for strength.
refine
To make something better
We refined our building after testing.
share
To tell others
We shared our results with the class.
hazard
Something dangerous
Earthquakes are a natural hazard.
safety
Being protected by danger
Safety is important when building structures.
revise
To change something after reviewing it.
We revised our plan to fix weak spots.
fair test
A test where only one thing changes.
We did a fair test by changing one material.
data
Information collected from test or observations
We recorded data from out building.
budget
A plan for how much money can be spent
We stayed under our budget for building materials.