Abstract
The Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) Seismographs in Schools (SIS) program has supported teachers in the use of educational seismometers and real-time seismic data in the classroom for the past 20 years. To better understand how the seismographs and seismic data are being used in the classroom, we sent a survey to 770 past or current program participants. The survey asked about their seismometer, seismic data use, software use, the impact of seismic data on their classroom, and what additional seismology-related resources or instruction they provide to their students. Four highly-engaged teachers were then recruited from this larger pool for a case study. The purpose of this study was to better understand these highly-engaged teachers, their experiences with seismic instrumentation, software and data in the classroom, how and to what degree seismic data has impacted their curriculum and instruction, and their perceptions of the impact of the SIS program on their students’ understanding of Earth Science concepts. The case study results show that each of the highly-engaged teachers values data driven instruction, instrument science, and the integration of seismic data into the classroom more than just during their earthquake units. They have made it part of everyday class activities by having students be aware of data coming in, noting earthquakes in the news, and helping students learn more about analyzing data for advanced investigations. While there were differences in their implementations, in all cases a critical feature of their engagement with students was use of a variety of seismology-related resources which connected the seismic data to the rest of the curriculum. Thus, the use of seismic data was just one component of their seismology-related teaching. This study also highlights the value of a local sensor, as all four highly-engaged teachers stressed that students as stewards of the seismometer linked them to the science in an engaging and dynamic way. Thus, while the highly-engaged teachers had a primary responsibility to promote learning, their focus on student engagement is also helping to create young citizen scientists.
Highlights
The Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) have supported low-cost seismic systems in schools for over 20 years through the Seismographs in Schools (SIS) program
The sources of seismic data teachers use are their classroom seismometer (57%), jAmaSeis (51%), USGS (34%), other (21%), IRIS SIS website (18%), and IRIS DMC (11%)
Teachers use seismic data in different ways: show the data to the class after an earthquake (83%), use the data to discuss earth science topics (73%), plot recorded earthquakes on a map (45%), encourage students to work with seismic data (42%), calculate distance (40%). calculate magnitude of at least 1 earthquake (28%), and other (21%)
Summary
The Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) have supported low-cost seismic systems in schools for over 20 years through the Seismographs in Schools (SIS) program. Our website (www.iris.edu/ earthquake) includes tools to share seismic data in real-time, classroom activities, and technical support documents for seismic instruments. While that is still the main goal of the program, the rapid advances of technology allowing easier access to realtime seismic data over the past 20 years have allowed the program to expand to reach a wider audience so that students and citizen scientists can be involved globally with or without access to a local seismograph. Since much of the US is not very seismically active, the focus of the program has been on the science and the recording of regional and distant earthquakes rather than promoting local seismic hazards awareness
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