Creep Meters

The 6th grade class designed and created replicas of creep meters to measure earthquakes.  This inquiry based activity required students to work together and be creative with the materials provided (wooden blocks, clay, pulleys, nails, lunch trays, tape, and ruler).

Illinois State Standards:

12.E.3a Analyze and explain large-scale dynamic forces, events and processes that affect the Earth's land water and atmospheric systems (e.g., jetstream, hurricanes, plate tectonics).

11.B.3b Sketch, propose and compare design solutions to the problem considering available materials, tools, cost effectiveness and safety.

11.B.3d Test the prototype using available materials, instruments and technology and record the data.

11.B.3e Evaluate the test results based on established criteria, not sources of error and recommend improvements.

Objectives:

Students will:

-design a model creep meter

-explain how the model is similar to an actual creep meter

-demonstrate how a creep meter works using the model

Assessment:

Students were assessed based on their final creep meter model.  Once it was completed, they presented it to the class and explained how each part of the model corresponded with each part of a real creep meter.  Lastly, they demonstrated how their model worked.