William Reynolds Primary School and Nursery

Base 11 enjoyed taking part in a series of science experiments as part of Global Awareness Day. They started the session by watching a Newsround clip about the recent, devastating Earthquake, which happened on the border of Syria and Turkey. After a brief discussion to answer any questions they had, we began looking at events that can occur because of an earthquake. In particular, we looked at how an earthquake can affect the structure of a building, cause a tsunami, and a volcanic eruption.

Buildings

The children made small structures using cocktail sticks and mini marshmallows, which they then placed on a tray of jelly. When they shock the tray and the jelly wobbled, they could see how the buildings would move and collapse.

“The earthquake makes the ground shake like jelly”, Trai

Tsunami

We set up a tray with soil, water and some foam houses. The children thrust a piece of card through the water creating a huge wave, which toppled the houses.

“Tsunami’s are caused when an earthquake happens out at sea. The movement forces all the water to shift backwards and then it is propelled forward really quickly causing a huge wall of water”, Cornelius

Volcano

Using vinegar, bicarbonate of soda, water and food colouring the children re-created the eruption of a volcano.

“Some earthquakes force the ground to overlap and push up which creates a volcano. Most volcanos lay dormant but sometimes they wake up and erupt causing ash and hot lava to spit out”, Winnie