Geoscience education in a Nepali school

Abstract

<p>Nepal lies in the center of the Himalayas range and it is also in the active seismic zone. We have regularly experienced different kinds of geohazards like as earthquake, landslides, floods etc. Most of the students in Nepal badly felt the 2015 Gorkha earthquake but fortunately, it was during the weekend and schools were closed.</p><p>For the purpose of earthquake education, we have installed seismometer inside the school under the framework of Seismology at School in Nepal program, which is recording earthquake continuously. We are teaching earth science in the classrooms using the seismometer. This seismometer is very good for the education purposes as each element is visible and easy to install in the classroom. In addition, we teach about seismic risk in the special lectures in classes range between 5 -12 using different educational materials provided by the Seismology at School in Nepal program. Sometimes, extra activities including the members from the communities are also performed to share the knowledge about natural hazards, its associated risk and the preparedness. The level of awareness and the motivation towards geoscience is found to be increased in the community after the installation of the seismometer. Students are interested to know the fact and real science even it is not the part of the official curriculum. It would be great if geoscience education in inserted to the high school curriculum. From the side of school, we are looking for the support and more materials to teach geoscience in the classroom in the future.</p>