While the National Corvette Museum’s name is often synonymous with the term “sinkhole,” from October through December it will also be associated with earthquakes. A new exhibit, When the Earth Shakes, will allow both children and adults to delve into the science of earthquakes, tectonic plates and tsunamis, and find out what earthquake engineers are doing to make our world safer.
Visitors can be immersed in interactive earthquake exhibits, including jumping up and down on a platform and changing how hard they jump to match the seismogram from a historic earthquake. Watch how the continents move and re-form as you spin the dial through geologic history, from 600 million years ago all the way to 200 million years in the future. See where earthquakes happen all around the world on the seismic monitor that shows them in real time and includes the hundreds that occur every week and how strong they were.
Guests will also see fast-paced videos of engineers working to make our world safer by using amazing tools and technology to test and improve building techniques and materials. In Puzzled Earth, how quickly can you assemble the map of giant tectonic plates? Hurry, you only have two minutes before the pieces fall! Test your engineering skills as you design and build your own model of an earthquake-safe building out of blocks and reinforcing rods on the Shake Table platform, then start the quake and see if your structure holds up. Turn the dial to make it shake faster or slower. Can you improve your design and make your building safer?
Explore the science of tsunami waves. Build a structure, and then make it crash on a beach in the 16-foot long Tsunami Talk. Did your structure hold up? Spin the dial, replay the impact in slow motion, and then improve your design. Can it withstand more powerful waves? Find out what happens when you add a seawall.
When the Earth Shakes, an exhibit sponsored by the National Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES), developed by the Sciencenter in Ithaca, N.Y., and funded by the National Science Foundation and NEES, is included with regular admission to the National Corvette Museum. Admission to the Museum is $12 for adults, $7 for kids age 5-12, and children age 4 and under are free. The Museum features over 70 Corvettes on display, a hands-on KidZone, Corvette Cave-In: The Skydome Sinkhole exhibit and more. When the Earth Shakes is open October 1 through December 31, 2019. Learn more at corvettemuseum.org.
