The Girlstart girls at McCoy Elementary learned about landslides and natural disasters by creating a model city that included buildings, a bridge, and a hill or mountain. The activity explored the causes of landslides, such as earthquakes, and modeled the Richter scale by creating a way to measure the intensity of the shakes to the model city. With different shake intensities, we observed the changes in the landslides and the damage to our cities. We discussed materials involved in landslides including sand, rocks, debris, and water, and how the damage done by these different landslide materials would change. The girls learned about Seismologists who study earthquakes and use their knowledge and models to predict when and where earthquakes could occur. This knowledge of landslides and earthquakes can help in designing cities and communities safely and how people can protect themselves from natural disasters.
