The Boston College Educational Seismology Project (BC-ESP)
offers an educational opportunity for students, teachers, and their
communities to be directly involved with scientific research. This
project is operated by Weston Observatory, a research laboratory of the
Department of Geology and Geophysics at Boston College, in partnership
with the Boston College Lynch School of Education. The BC-ESP uses
seismology as a medium for inviting students into the world of science
research by inquiry-based learning through investigation of earthquakes
recorded by seismographs in K-12 classrooms. Seismology is an
interdisciplinary science that requires understanding a wide range of
scientific concepts, and seismology also teaches students how the
natural environment impacts society. Thus, the BC-ESP offers numerous
possibilities for introducing students to the nature of scientific
inquiry and to the importance of science in their everyday lives.
It is truly fascinating that it is possible to record earthquakes at
great distances using seismographs. In fact, it does not take a
particularly complex seismograph to record earthquakes from across the
globe. Seismographs measure the pulse of the Earth, and provide direct
information about earthquakes, plate tectonics, and the structure of
the Earth’s interior. Thus, having their own seismograph in the
classroom gives students a way of collecting real-world data and making
measurements that provide them with an understanding of the internal
structure of the Earth and processes by which the Earth changes. The
AS1 seismograph, which serves as the classroom seismograph for this
work, is ideal for this purpose because it is affordable, records
earthquakes quite well considering its low cost, and is relatively
simple to install and operate.
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McDevitt
Middle School students (Waltham, MA) and their seismogram of the
magnitude 6.9 earthquake in Nicaragua (October 9, 2005).
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The Boston College team, led by geophysicist Dr. Alan Kafka in collaboration with Dr. Michael Barnett of the Lynch School of Education and Dr. John Ebel, geophysicist and Director of Weston Observatory, operates educational seismographs in classrooms and provides curriculum resources for students in the K-12 schools. The exercises associated with these in-class seismographs teach students not only about seismology and seismic waves, but also about plate tectonics, earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountain building, as well as about how the forces of nature shape the Earth’s surface. Furthermore, our seismology curriculum, based on the in-class seismographs, also teaches students about various aspects of physics, such as energy, mechanics, and waves, and encourages a culture of scientific inquiry in K-12 schools.