New Science Education Initiative brings
Seismology into the Classroom
Michael W. Hamburger, Gary L. Pavlis
Department
of Geological Sciences
Indiana
University
Bloomington,
Indiana 47405
Robert A. Phinney, Daniel Steinberg
Department
of Geosciences
Princeton
University
Princeton,
NJ
Thomas J. Owens
Department
of Geological Sciences
University
of South Carolina
Columbia,
South Carolina
Michelle Hall-Wallace
Department
of Geosciences
University
of Arizona
Tucson,
Arizona
Submitted to EOS, Transactions of the American
Geophysical Union
Corresponding Author:
Michael Hamburger
Department of
Geological Sciences
Indiana
University
Bloomington,
IN 47405
Tel. (812)
855-2934
Fax (812)
855-7899
Email: hamburg@indiana.edu
Prince
Galitsin's invention of the electromagnetic seismograph in 1914 revolutionized
the young science of seismology. Now,
the venerable research instrument is proving to have an equally powerful
impact—in the arena of public education.
Over the past five years, a number of initiatives have extended the
boundaries of seismology research outside the ivory towers of research
institutions and into America's schools, museums, and teaching colleges. These initiatives are built on the premise
that educational seismology
offers a special opportunity for capturing students' innate curiosity for
natural phenomena in the world around them and that this curiosity can be used
to teach a wealth of fundamental principles of physics and earth science. And these school-based seismograph stations,
now numbering in the hundreds, are demonstrating a
growing potential to contribute both to science education and to scientific
research.
Networks of
seismographs have always been the principal tool of the seismology research
community for the study of Earth's interior, the earthquake process, global and
regional tectonics, seismic hazard, and nuclear test monitoring. Until recently, however, both the seismic
instruments and access to the seismic data were off limits to the broader
educational community, limited by both cost and technical expertise. Several recent developments have changed
that situation, and have opened opportunities for schools to participate in
research activities. New,
research-quality seismographs are now available at a cost affordable by many
schools, and improved data acquisition and data analysis software make
recording of digital seismic data possible and reliable in a school
setting. In addition, new data communications
technologies permit near-real time transmission of seismic data—and comparison
of data from various locations—via the internet. These school-based seismographs (see Figure 1) provide teachers
and students with the opportunity to participate in the research community in
a variety of formats and at many levels, including station operation, basic
investigations of seismic events, and collaborative research with other schools
or with research scientists.
The
opportunities for seismology research in schools couldn't have come at a better
time. A series of blue-ribbon panels,
beginning with the landmark report, "A
Nation At Risk" (National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983)
and concluding with the recent Glenn Commission report "Before It's Too Late" (National
Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching for the 21st Century, 2000),
have focused increasing attention toward reform of the nation's science and
mathematics education system. They have
emphasized growing concerns about the teaching of mathematics and science in
America's K-12 classrooms, the growing needs for a scientifically and
technically literate population, and possible approaches to reform of science
teaching in America's classrooms. This
reform of science education is centered around four principal themes: improved preparation for future science
teachers, improved access to science education for all students, the need for
more in-depth, inquiry-based learning in classrooms, and improved access to
technology. Many of these reform ideas
are codified in the National Academy of Sciences' "National Science Education Standards", which set a series of
new benchmarks for science literacy in America's K-12 schools. Those standards, which are being adopted as
part of educational reform in individual school systems and in state-wide
education initiatives, could profoundly impact the teaching of science and
mathematics across the country.
Seismology is well situated to play an important role in this
educational reform movement. Seismology
is by its nature interdisciplinary and has important applications to human
society. Teaching with a focus on
seismology permits teachers to introduce fundamental concepts of earth science,
physics, and mathematics in the context of real-world problems, allows students
to apply advanced technology for data access, analysis, and visualization, and
lends itself to critical thinking and problem solving.
In order to
explore opportunities for this emerging movement of educational seismology, a
group of 25 scientists, education scholars, and practicing teachers gathered at
a November workshop to explore the educational and research implications of the
deployment of seismographs in schools.
The group explored a diverse range of issues affecting the educational
seismology movement, including technical issues associated with the
acquisition, management, and analysis of school seismograph data; curricular
issues associated with the development of educational materials that support
the seismic networks; linkages with other education and outreach efforts—such
as those associated with IRIS, Earthscope/USArray, and the Advanced National
Seismograph System; and assessment of the needs, successes and failures, and
modes of improvement for existing and planned educational seismology programs
in the U.S.
The group
concluded that the growing opportunities for educational seismology calls for
increased coordination and cooperation between programs. On that basis, the group proposed the
development of a new consortium of scientists and educators, the U.S.
Educational Seismology Network (USESN),
whose mission is to promote the use of seismographs and seismic data for
science education. USESN seeks to provide an
organizational structure for the coordination of the numerous educational
seismology activities that are developing across the country.
This project has emerged out
of several independent educational seismology initiatives, whose collective
efforts to develop a national school seismograph network are shown in Figure
2. These include: (1) the Princeton
Earth Physics Project (PEPP), which links ten university-based regional
networks, currently serving 80 schools nationwide; (2) Michseis/Ohioseis, which
has built a network of 18 school and college-based stations in Michigan,
Indiana, and Ohio; (3) the South Carolina Earth Physics Project (SCEPP), which
is in the process of developing a 50-station educational seismic network in
South Carolina; (4) the Los Angeles Physics Teachers Alliance Group (LAPTAG), a
network of eight stations in the Los Angeles area, (5) a number of smaller
local-area educational seismic networks that are developing across the country;
and (6) the Public Seismic Network (PSN) an informal coalition of amateur
seismologists, which includes stations at a number of schools. A similar effort has been mounted by the
IRIS 'Seismographs in Schools' program, which also brings seismic instruments
into schools; they differ from these initiatives somewhat in that there is no
effort to network schools or to preserve a systematic archive of school seismic
data. The goal of USESN is not to
supersede these initiatives, but rather to provide a mechanism for coordination
of individual efforts, to provide common technical and educational resources
that will enhance all of the educational seismology programs, and to be an
advocate for educational seismology.
The primary
goals of the USESN organization are:
(1) to promote the
installation and effective use of educational seismographs and seismic data;
(2) to disseminate
high-quality curricular materials and educational services that promote the use
of seismology in science education; and
(3) to provide an
organizational framework for coordination and advocacy of educational
seismology across the country.
The initiative
is comprised of four principal components:
·
Provision of technical support, by (1)
coordinating technical support for participating schools, (2) developing a
'seamless data archive' of high-quality seismic data from school seismometers
and developing effective tools to access these data as well as those from
research data repositories; (3) facilitating data sharing between schools,
through development of data exchange criteria and easy-to-use data transfer
mechanisms; and (4) developing 'technical aids' for participating teachers,
such as a "Buyer's Guide" for acquisition of new instruments,
installation and operation manuals for seismic equipment, and high-quality
software installation tools and users' guides for seismological software.
·
Dissemination of educational materials, through (1) a
new clearinghouse for seismological curriculum modules, linked to the Digital
Library for Earth Science Education (DLESE), (2) development of new curriculum
modules that support national and state science standards and promote
inquiry-based teaching of science; (3) facilitating connections between the
research and education communities through workshops for pre-service and
in-service teachers, student-teacher symposia, and other forums for student
research; and (4) exploration of new mechanisms for inter-school collaborative
projects, including development of high-quality web-based communication
systems.
·
Coordination with other earth science initiatives. USESN will seek to collaborate with
education and outreach programs connected with other major earth science
initiatives, focusing initially on activities connected with (1) the
Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS), (2) the Digital
Library for Earth Science Education (DLESE), (3) the Earthscope initiative, and
(4) the USGS Advanced National Seismograph System (ANSS).
·
Assessment of existing and planned initiatives will include
formative evaluation of the needs for educational seismology projects,
followed by ongoing evaluation of the effectiveness of the educational
seismology projects in the classroom environment.
One of the concrete
outgrowths of the workshop was the creation of a 'white paper' on educational
seismology. The document, bearing the
same title as this paper, summarizes the mission, vision, and goals of the consortium,
outlines a series of efforts needed for technical improvement of the
educational seismic networks, development and dissemination of educational
materials, assessment of educational seismology programs, and linkages with
other national initiatives in science education. Interested readers may obtain copies of the document from the
USESN web site: http://www.indiana.edu/~usesn/
At this stage, the
consortium is still in its formative stages.
The group welcomes the participation of any interested participants from
the educational and research communities.
References
National Academy of Sciences. (1996). National Science Education Standards. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
National Commission on Excellence in Education, A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform, Washington, D. C., US Government Printing Office, 1983.
National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching for the 21st Century, Before It's Too Late: A Report to the Nation from the National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching for the 21st Century, Washington, U.S. Department of Education, 2000.
Figure Captions
Figure 1. Students
from Northview High School in Brazil, Indiana examining data from a school
seismograph station. [Photo courtesy of
Jeff Sayers, Northview H.S.]
Figure 2. Map
showing existing educational and amateur seismology stations across the United
States.
