Download earthquake tower_ grade 7

CHESTER SCHOOL DISTRICT SCIENCE CURRICULUM
Aligned to the 2009 New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards
ST
ENGAGING STUDENTS • FOSTERING ACHIEVEMENT • CULTIVATING 21 CENTURY GLOBAL SKILLS
UNIT OVERVIEW
With each new natural disaster scientists and engineers have researched ways to not
only predict cataclysmic events, but also to build structures that can withstand the
next catastrophe. Throughout this unit, students will research the history and forces
behind earthquakes. They will demonstrate knowledge from the initial lessons in
the design and building of their model earthquake tower. Students will then test
their structures on a programmable tremor table. Students will use math, science,
and engineering skills to build the strongest earthquake tower possible. Students
will have an opportunity to reflect and modify their designs throughout the closure
lessons.
Student Goals:
Unit Overview Template
Content Area: Innovation and Design
Unit Title: Earthquake Tower
Target Course/Grade Level: 7
Unit Summary: The initial lessons of the unit will survey the history of earthquakes
in the United States. Students will research the ways in which earthquakes can be
predicted and measured as well as how the epicenter of an earthquake is determined.
Throughout the second group of lessons students will investigate the effects that
earthquake forces have on man-made structures such as dams, bridges and
skyscrapers. They will use a bridge building website to test and record how a variety
of engineering designs handle earthquakes. Students will then work in groups during
the final lessons to design, build, and test an earthquake tower made from balsa wood.
Primary interdisciplinary connections: Math, Science, History, Language
Arts
Unit Rationale: While earthquakes cannot be avoided, the impact of their
destructive forces can be minimized by prediction and preparation.
Created for the Chester School District through committee work in order to provide the students of Chester with a high quality program. In
addition, the goal was to provide the teachers with a workable template for instruction that will allow for common pacing, common formative and
summative assessment, and common educational standards/vocabulary in order to bring about grade and building level discussions for
enrichment and intervention strategies.
CHESTER SCHOOL DISTRICT SCIENCE CURRICULUM
Aligned to the 2009 New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards
ST
ENGAGING STUDENTS • FOSTERING ACHIEVEMENT • CULTIVATING 21 CENTURY GLOBAL SKILLS
Learning Targets
STANDARD 8.1 (Computer and Information Literacy) All students will use computer
applications to gather and organize information and to solve problems.
Content Statements
8.1.8
A. Basic Computer Skills and Tools
The use of technology and digital tools requires knowledge and appropriate use of
operations and related applications.
8.1.8
B. Application of Productivity Tools
The use of digital tools and media-rich resources enhances creativity and the construction
of knowledge.
CPI#
8.1.8.A.5
8.1.8.B.8
Cumulative Progress Indicator (CPI)
Create documents with advanced text- formatting and graphics
using word processing.
Use computer applications to modify information independently
and/or collaboratively to solve problems.
STANDARD 8.2 (Technology Education) All students will develop an understanding of the
nature and impact of technology, engineering, technological design, and the designed world as
they relate to the individual, society, and the environment.
Content Statements:
8.2.8
A. Nature and Impact of Technology
Technology products and systems impact every aspect of the world in which we live.
8.2.8
B. Design: Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision-Making
The design process is a systematic approach to solving problems
8.2.8
G. The designed world is the product of a design process that provides the means to
convert resources into products and systems.
CPI#
Cumulative Progress Indicator (CPI)
8.2.8.A.2
Describe how components of a technological product, system, or environment interact.
Created for the Chester School District through committee work in order to provide the students of Chester with a high quality program. In
addition, the goal was to provide the teachers with a workable template for instruction that will allow for common pacing, common formative and
summative assessment, and common educational standards/vocabulary in order to bring about grade and building level discussions for
enrichment and intervention strategies.
CHESTER SCHOOL DISTRICT SCIENCE CURRICULUM
Aligned to the 2009 New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards
ST
ENGAGING STUDENTS • FOSTERING ACHIEVEMENT • CULTIVATING 21 CENTURY GLOBAL SKILLS
8.2.8.B.2
8.2.8.B.3
8.2.8.G.1
Identify the design constraints and trade-offs involved in designing a prototype
(e.g., how the prototype might fail and how it might be improved)
by completing a design problem and reporting results in a multimedia presentation.
Solve a science-based design challenge and build a prototype using science
and math principles throughout the design process
Explain why human-designed systems, products, and environments need
to be constantly monitored, maintained, and improved.
STANDARD 5.1 (Scientific Processes) All students will develop problem solving, decisionmaking and inquiry skills reflected by formulating usable questions and hypotheses, planning
experiments, conducting systematic observations, interpreting and analyzing data, drawing
conclusions, and communicating results.
Content Statements
5.1.8
Inquiry and problem solving
Evidence is generated and evaluated as part of building and refining models and
Explanations.
CPI#
5.1.12.A.2
5.1.8.B.1
5.1.8.B.2
5.1.8.B.3
5.1.8.B.4
Cumulative Progress Indicator (CPI)
Use mathematical, physical, and computational tools to build conceptual-based
models and to pose theories.
Design investigations and use scientific instrumentation to collect, analyze,
and evaluate evidence as part of building and revising models and explanations.
Gather, evaluate, and represent evidence using scientific tools, technologies,
and computational strategies.
Use qualitative and quantitative evidence to develop evidence-based arguments.
Use quality controls to examine data sets and to examine evidence as a means
of generating and reviewing explanations.
STANDARD 5.10 (Environmental Studies) All students will develop an understanding
of the environment as a system of interdependent components affected by human activity
and natural phenomena.
5.10.8 A. Natural Systems and Interactions
CPI#
Cumulative Progress Indicator (CPI)
5.10.8.A.1
Investigate the impact of catastrophic events such as forest fires, floods,
and hurricanes on the environment of New Jersey.
Unit Enduring Understandings
 History of earthquakes in the United States including case studies of the
1906 and 1989 San Francisco earthquakes.
Created for the Chester School District through committee work in order to provide the students of Chester with a high quality program. In
addition, the goal was to provide the teachers with a workable template for instruction that will allow for common pacing, common formative and
summative assessment, and common educational standards/vocabulary in order to bring about grade and building level discussions for
enrichment and intervention strategies.
CHESTER SCHOOL DISTRICT SCIENCE CURRICULUM
Aligned to the 2009 New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards
ST
ENGAGING STUDENTS • FOSTERING ACHIEVEMENT • CULTIVATING 21 CENTURY GLOBAL SKILLS
 Causes of earthquakes
 Earthquakes impact on man-made structures
 Earthquake resistant engineering designs.
Unit Essential Questions
 Which bridge/building designs are the most earthquake resistant? Least resistant
designs?
 What forces cause earthquakes to occur?
 How do scientists measure the size and epicenter of earthquakes?
Unit Learning Targets
Students will know and be able to ...
 Describe the causes of earthquakes in detail.
 Identify how scientists measure the size and epicenter of earthquakes.
 Demonstrate the ability to use tools such as screw drivers, hand saws, and
glue guns to create an earthquake tower.
 Work collaboratively in a group in the design and build of an earthquake
tower.
 Compare and contrast different engineering designs using a variety of
Classroom tools.
 Record data on excel spreadsheet

VOCABULARY:
Amplitude
Force
Roadbed
Base Station
Frequency
Seismic wave
Center of Mass
Girders
Seismograph
Column
Joint
Shear
Compression
Lamination
Conclusion
Load
Constraint
Magnitude
Conversion Factor Newton
Crest
Primary Wave
Epicenter
Resonant Frequency
Evidence of Learning
Summative Assessment
Earthquake Group Build
Created for the Chester School District through committee work in order to provide the students of Chester with a high quality program. In
addition, the goal was to provide the teachers with a workable template for instruction that will allow for common pacing, common formative and
summative assessment, and common educational standards/vocabulary in order to bring about grade and building level discussions for
enrichment and intervention strategies.
CHESTER SCHOOL DISTRICT SCIENCE CURRICULUM
Aligned to the 2009 New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards
ST
ENGAGING STUDENTS • FOSTERING ACHIEVEMENT • CULTIVATING 21 CENTURY GLOBAL SKILLS
Formative Assessments
Teacher Observation
Quizzes/Tests
Experiment Sheets
Class/Student Discussion
Class work
Diagrams/Models
Equipment needed:
Earthquake Tower Build Kit
Unit Checklists and notebook
Teacher Resources:
Discovery United Streaming
PowerPoint presentations, embedded video
Various lab materials/equipment
Various handouts/templates
Lesson Plans
Lesson
History of Earthquakes in the United
States with video and unit vocabulary
Timeframe
Earthquake causes and impact on man
made strucures
Application Lessons:
Part One
virtual bridge design
3 days
Application Lessons
Part Two
Earthquake group build and safety
procedures
Build competition and closure
3 days
3 days
7-10 Days
2-3 days
Created for the Chester School District through committee work in order to provide the students of Chester with a high quality program. In
addition, the goal was to provide the teachers with a workable template for instruction that will allow for common pacing, common formative and
summative assessment, and common educational standards/vocabulary in order to bring about grade and building level discussions for
enrichment and intervention strategies.
CHESTER SCHOOL DISTRICT SCIENCE CURRICULUM
Aligned to the 2009 New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards
ST
ENGAGING STUDENTS • FOSTERING ACHIEVEMENT • CULTIVATING 21 CENTURY GLOBAL SKILLS
21st Century Themes
Global
Awareness
Creativity and
Innovation
Media Literacy
Financial,
Civic Literacy
Economic,
Business, and
Entrepreneurial
Literacy
21st Century Skills
X Critical Thinking
X Communication
and
and Problem
Collaboration
Solving
X ICT Literacy
Health
Literacy
Informat
ion
Literacy
X Life and Career Skills
Created for the Chester School District through committee work in order to provide the students of Chester with a high quality program. In
addition, the goal was to provide the teachers with a workable template for instruction that will allow for common pacing, common formative and
summative assessment, and common educational standards/vocabulary in order to bring about grade and building level discussions for
enrichment and intervention strategies.