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Level 3 – Intermediate
Earth-shaking jump causes mini-earthquake
About one million school children around Britain took part in an unusual experiment at 11am on Friday, 7 September 2001. The children jumped up and down for one minute in the hope of creating a mini-earthquake. Scientists who measured the results of the Giant Jump say that it caused a quake of less than 3 on the Richter Scale, that is about one hundredth of a serious earthquake. Scientists estimate that one million children with an average weight of 50 kg jumping twenty times, produced around 75,000 tons of energy. The Jump was recorded in the Guinness Book of Records as “the greatest simultaneous jump in history.
The event was organised to launch the National Science Year in Britain. This is funded by the government and its aim is to promote science among school children between the ages of 10 and 19 years old. The organisers hope to encourage more children to study science subjects at school and university. There are not enough young people choosing sciences today because many children, especially girls, see science careers as boring. The organisers of the Science Year hope to show that real-life science is very different from school science lessons and can often be very exciting and sometimes even good fun.
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C2 Mastery
