Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Tsunamis: Projects and Principles for Beginning Geologists
O AP The Cracked Egg In this experiment you will use a boiled egg to simu late the behavior of the tectonic plates on the earth's surface You'll Need adult helper cooking pot water egg spoon clock or timer 1 Put enough cold water in a pot to cover an egg With the help of a parent or other adult bring the water to a boil 2 Lower an egg into the boiling water with a
Turn the heat down to a low boil and cook the egg for about 7 to 9 minutes 3 Take the egg out of the water and cool it under cold water The egg should be medium cooked not hard 4 Strike the boiled egg gently against a hard sur face like the top of a kitchen table and break the eggshell into a number of pieces some large and some small They will be the tectonic plates of your earth 5 If you now squeeze the egg gently between two fingers the plates will move Some will bump against adjoining plates others will slide along them and some will move away from each other A plate may even slide under an adjoining plate NoTE Since the consistency of a boiled egg varies
depending on its age the suggested boiling time is approximate and you may have to proceed by trial and error to be successful with this experiment ES Just like the pieces of the eggshell in the egg experiment the separate tectonic plates floting over the magma don't stay put but move around at a snail's pace at only 50 millimeters 2 inches a year As they move toward each other one plate may hit another top left slide along it top right or even duck under it in a movement called subduction bot tom Scraping Plates To feel how the tectonic plates bump into each other
and create earthquakes that damage buildings and kill people you only need to use your hands You'll Need 2 hands 1 Make your hands into firsts with the knuckles bulging out The backs of your hands will be your plates and the knuckles will represent the rough edges of the tectonic plates 2 Push your knuckles together and at the same time try to make one hand slide with respect to the other The harder you push your knuckles together the harder it will be to make your hands slide you will feel the stress increase along your knuckles just as it increases between the rough edges of the plates 1 S 3 If you keep pushing for a while the muscles of
