DIY Earth Shake Table

Many years ago, I worked at a small school with a limited budget. I tried to be creative in making my classes engaging and limiting my spending. In came the shake table. Sadly, I cannot find the original website that inspired it, but it served my students well.

Here's how it is made: 

Materials

• thin rubber bands (4)
• flat piece of cardboard (stage)
• larger cardboard lid/box
• marbles/balls (~12)

Steps

1. Grab a cardboard box lid or cut a box so it is no taller than four inches. (In these pictures, I used a large cereal box.)
2. Cut a flat piece of cardboard to serve as the stage. It must be a couple of inches smaller in length and width than your box lid.
3. On the four corners of the stage, punch a hole. 
4. Punch holes on four corners of the box toward the top lip.
5. Cut all four rubber bands open.
6. Tie a large knot at the end of one rubber band and feed the rubber band through a hole in the box so the knot is on the outside.
7. Pull the rubber band through the corresponding hole in the stage and place a knot on the other end so it does not slip back through.
8. Repeat steps 6 & 7 with the opposite corner of the box. Finish with the last two corners of the box. 
9. Underneath the stage, place marbles to keep the stage from making contact with the bottom of the box.
10. To simulate the earthquake, pluck one of the rubber bands with your item on the stage. You can secure the small containers to the stage to prevent too much damage from being done by the shake table.