Earthquake Machine Lite: Activity 1 of 2

This activity is the first in a two part sequence designed to increase students' understandings about earthquakes. It will address the following questions: What is an earthquake?; What is the role of a model in science?; and How are scientific ideas constantly changing? The activity involves the construction of a model ('The Earthquake Machine') that allows students to explore stick-slip behavior of some faults. Teacher background material, references, standards alignments, and a zipped file containing a slide demonstration of the Earthquake Machine and supporting animations are provided. Educational levels: Middle school, High school

Earthquake Machine Lite: Activity 2 of 2

This activity continues and compliments the previous Earthquake Machine activity by pointing out the advantages and limitations of the Earthquake Machine model, explaining the causes of earthquakes and extending students' understanding about earthquake generation, occurrence, and prediction through the collection and interpretation of data. It addresses the following questions: How frequently do earthquakes occur?; Are all earthquakes large events?; How frequently do large events occur?; Can earthquakes be predicted?; How does the Earthquake Machine model compare to global data?; and How do scientists strive for objectivity in their results? It uses the Earthquake Machine models and slide presentation from the previous activity and includes homework exercises, teacher background materials, standards alignments, and references. Educational levels: Middle school, High school

Using Leaves as a Model for Teaching Watershed Concepts in Natural Resources Science and Engineering Programs

Core Ideas Watershed is an important concept in science and engineering of natural resources. Introducing watershed concept using a leaf that students see every day is novel. Using leaf analogy, watershed concept can be taught universally. This article examines the effects of using leaves, something most students see every day and have some familiarity with, as an analogy for the concept of watersheds in an undergraduate water resources engineering course. The ultimate goal of the leaf/watershed analogy and associated instruction is to increase students’ understanding of hydrology principles, which in turn may facilitate better watershed management through increased public awareness, increased adoption of appropriate best management practices, and improved policy decisions. The assessment was performed with junior and senior undergraduate students enrolled in a Water Resource Engineering course. The assessment results showed that overall, students benefitted from the leaf analogy as a tool for learning watersheds. However, this effect varied depending on students’ learning style preferences

Moving beyond <i>S</i> Minus <i>P</i> Earthquake Locations as “THE” Lab in Seismology Education

Abstract Locating earthquakes is an important activity that underpins both seismological research and seismology education broadly. The seismology community tends to view the earthquake location process as a fundamental element of the field, and locating earthquakes is arguably the most common seismology education activity that middle school through introductory college students encounter. As a result, nearly all students’ first, and primary, exposure to the field of seismology consists of paper seismograms, drawing compasses, and 2D maps. This occurs in an era of computers available for every student, high-speed Internet, publicly available digital waveforms, complex algorithms to solve for earthquake locations, and the Next Generation Science Standards driving public education. This article explores the origins of the S minus P location method both as a scientific solution and as an educational activity in Earth Science classrooms, and reflects on technical, pedagogical, and curricular aspects of common implementations, underpinning beliefs, and their implications. From this reflection, three opportunities are identified for the seismology community to expand the seismological horizons of Earth Science students and instructors. These include working with instructors across a range of educational levels to correct the record on how earthquakes are located, to rethink both the content and pedagogy used both to teach about the process of earthquake locations, and to define several key ways the seismology community might lead geoscience educators to move beyond earthquake locations as “THE” seismology lab used with students.</jats:p

How Shallow Earth Structure Is Determined: A Classroom Exercise Demonstrating Seismic Refraction Use in the Real World

This lesson introduces students to a real-world application in which seismic waves are used to reveal the shallow structure of the Earth. Students will explore the concepts of reflected and refracted seismic waves and examine how refracted waves may be used to determine Earth structure. An activity in which the students investigate what is beneath the surface of a playground before the construction of a new school will reinforce these concepts. The lesson includes a slide presentation, student worksheets, and homework assignments. Teacher background materials, standards alignments, and references are also provided

Promoting New Collaborations for Education Research in Geoscience

Encouraging Networks Between Geoscience and Geoscience Education (ENGAGE) Workshop; Arlington, Virginia, 18–20 January 2015</jats:p