Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I'm doing a project on how the soil type a building is built on affects the damage it receives during an earthquake. For our research paper we have to state the scientific principal, but I'm not sure exactly what that would be on this project. I also have to construct simple houses and test which soil type causes the most damage. The example I read said to do it out of sugar cubes and peanut butter, but that sounded really messy to me. What would be the best way to build the houses without making too much of a mess but still making it relatively easy to see the results? My paper is due Tuesday, so please respond fast! Thank you so much for your help.

Hello! Let's start by first getting an idea of what the scientific principle is: it's basically the concept of the whole experiment, which would be in your introduction. Conceptually, you want to focus on soil type and building structures, and you'll need to do research. The following sites may be helpful:

http://www.ehow.com/info_8575342_earthq ... chool.html
http://www.ehow.com/info_12059733_earth ... chool.html
http://mceer.buffalo.edu/infoservice/Ed ... onPlan.asp - very thorough*

Because you don't want to work with sugar cubes or peanut butter, you will probably prefer working with steel frame structures, which would require Styrofoam, pipe cleaners, t-pins, etc. - nothing messy. For your paper due Tuesday, you will also need books and Internet sources. *The sites I provided above do have some good information, but if you're looking for something more, scroll down to the Additional Resources section of the last website. It has a great list of books that would be relevant to your project.

I hope this helps! If you have any further questions, please ask! Otherwise, have fun with your experiment!