Shake It up, Yeah!!!
On April 16th, 2011 in Palo Alto, buildings shook, people ran for their lives, earthquake after earthquake shook again and again. Then bricks came crashing down, skyscraper after skyscraper – LEGO bricks, that is – scattered all over the ground. After all, we were at a Bay Area LEGO User’s Group (BayLUG) meeting.
The BayLUG Kids’ Building activity was again a big success. This month’s “A Whole Lot of Shaking!” simulated an earthquake with Lego buildings. The challenge was to build the tallest structure that can withstand a simulated earthquake.
The buildings ranged from simple boxy structures to complex towers with earthquake resistant features such as dampeners, pendulums and wheels.
Which size base would be more stable: 2×2, 4×4 or 6×6 (that is in Lego stud size), the kids pondered? Would a chunky building or a wide-based building that tapered to a skinny top be more earthquake resistant?
The test site was simple, a shake table basically comprised of several rubber balls sandwiched in between a wooden frame on the bottom and a top piece of wood board. Gently jiggle the top piece of wood and we have an earthquake.
More than 15 kids attended and the activity ran overtime, as the kids wanted to keep building and keep shaking it up.
