Background- An earthquake is the vibrations we feel when the

earth’s crust suddenly moves. What causes these sudden, larger

movements of the crust? The plates can stretch so far, but if they stretch farther than their
elastic limit, they will break and release huge vibrations that can be felt large distances
away.This project is worth 20 POINTS EXTRA CREDIT TEST GRADE.

Materials:
* 4 sm. packages Gelatin (clear gelatin is best)
* 8×8 in pan
* plastic wrap
* butter knife

Procedure:

1. Day before: Dissolve the packages of gelatin in 4 cups of boiling water. Pour the
gelatin in a plastic lined 8×8 inch pan.
2. When the gelatin has set, remove it from the pan, cut it in two pieces with a wet butter
knife. Slowly slide the gelatin halves past each other and watch as your “fault” builds up
energy and releases a gelatin earthquake
3. Add pieces to represent a road, houses, fences, etc. This will make it more life like. If
possible add the pieces along the either side of the fault!!

Analysis questions :

1. What type of fault did you create? What type of stress caused this
2. What happened to the road, the fence, and house pieces when they were slid past each
other
3. Did some spots demonstrate an earthquake better than others? Explain in terms of
seismic waves!!
4. How was this activity similar to a real earthquake?