There was a whole lot of shakin’ going on at Southgate Elementary School on Thursday.

And, it was for a great cause: Learning.

Students in the school’s PI Academy conducted a “Shake-Up Engineering Challenge,” showing off creations the students designed that were intended to be earthquake-resistant, said academy instructor Karla Carroll.

The 32 children in the academy — a center for some of the district’s most able students who learn by skill level, not grade level — were challenged to build one of four structures: A home, a library, a hospital or an apartment building out of any of 30 materials — from straws and string, to toothpicks and pipe cleaners. Each design was (hopefully) anchored to a Styrofoam foundation.

But before building, the students had to pay heed to a set of building codes and use the engineer’s design process — posing a problem, brainstorming, planning, creating, testing, improving and finally, sharing results. The kids worked in teams of four.

On Thursday, each team presented their project, talked about their process, and which part of the design process meant the most to them. Some said the improvement phase was most valuable; others said brainstorming for ideas was.

Second grader Aiden Kamuti thought creating the actual project was the most important phase.

“That gives us a chance to create what we have imagined,” he said.

Then, the most anticipated part: Actually shaking the project at a comparable force of a magnitude 7, to see if the structure would hold.

A few things fell here and there — but most structures stayed intact.

Carroll said students worked on the project for a month, whose focus was to address a world problem — in this case, earthquakes, and how they affected the country of Haiti, she said.

“But the really important part is the collaboration used by the team members to work together on the project — and the communication needed and used” to convey thoughts and ideas, Carroll said.