Here's another way to make a simple seismograph. It is less crude than the one made with a pan of water.

Tie a short pencil with a sharp point to a 1 pound weight, such as a fishing weight, suspended from a support.

Adjust the heights of the fishing weight and the pencil so that the pencil point just touches the surface of a sheet of paper.

Jump up and down on the floor of the room and note what happens. (The pencil will vibrate and make marks on the paper.)

This instrument is also a simple seismograph, but it works similarly to those used by scientists.

You can see how sensitive this seismograph is by jumping up and down at greater and greater distances from it. You can also see what kinds of noises activate it.

You can build one at home and place it on the garage floor. Take your radio or tape deck out to the garage, place it on the floor, and turn it on. Adjust the volume until the seismograph is activated. Or, you could plug in your guitar and rock out!