Earthquake Seismographs for Volunteers to Operate in K-12 Classrooms

Abstract

We have completed development of a seismograph system that is easy to operate and relatively inexpensive to purchase, one that is intended to be used for teaching Earth sciences to students K-12, using earthquakes recorded in the classroom from around the world. This seismograph is computer-based and self-contained, requiring no hook-ups to the Internet or to advanced timing devices, and can be operated in a classroom for two or three months at a time. Typically, this allows the recording of two to three very large earthquakes somewhere in the world that are used in the related activities. Our intention is to assist teachers and volunteers with bringing Earth science into the classroom by making it easier to obtain and operate seismographs. Several programs in existence today encourage schools to maintain and operate earthquake seismographs of research-level quality, such as MichSeis and its affiliates, through the University of Michigan (http://www.geo.Lsa.umich.edu/MichSeis/), and PEPP, the Princeton Earth Physics Project, through Princeton University (http://lasker.princeton.edu/). These are excellent programs, and we encourage schools and teachers to become involved with them. On the other hand, the continual operation and maintenance of a research-quality earthquake seismograph is a large obligation for most K-12 schools to consider. A highly dedicated teacher (or friend) must be prepared to devote considerable time to learning the system, maintaining the records, and communicating results back to a central reporting station. Most schools would like to be involved with a demonstration for some time but then not be saddled with a continuing commitment beyond the initial enthusiasm. The focus of our efforts was to create a turnkey system that is easy to operate and will maximize use by volunteers and teachers. With support from the SEG Foundation, we developed a user-friendly seismograph station that can be operated by volunteers with little or no …