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New Opportunities for Exploring Global and Regional Earthquakes in the Classroom and Beyond

New Opportunities for Exploring Global and Regional Earthquakes in the Classroom and Beyond. Alan Kafka, Justin Starr, Anastasia Moulis Weston Observatory Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences Boston College Tammy Bravo IRIS Consortium Ben Coleman

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New Opportunities for Exploring Global and Regional Earthquakes in the Classroom and Beyond

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  1. New Opportunities for Exploring Global and Regional Earthquakes in the Classroom and Beyond

  2. Alan Kafka, Justin Starr, Anastasia Moulis Weston Observatory Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences Boston College Tammy Bravo IRIS Consortium Ben Coleman Department of Computer Science Moravian College John Taber IRIS Consortium

  3. What (and Where) is an Earthquake Observatory in the 21st Century? In the early 1900s, an earthquake observatory was a building housing seismographs. Now the concept of an earthquake observatory has evolved into much more than “bricks and mortar” - it is a distributed network for earthquake monitoring and research, and for providing educational and public outreach resources about all aspects of the science of seismology and earthquake hazards. We are experimenting with different ways to present seismograms and other earthquake information to optimize the dissemination of information for the many different audiences that are served by the earthquake observatory of the 21st Century.

  4. What (and Where) is an Earthquake Observatory in the 21st Century? Mid- 1900s 2013 and beyond…

  5. Weston Observatoryin the 21st Century... Seismology Research Science Education • Earthquakes • Monitoring Planet Earth • Earth’s Interior • Earth Processes Science Education and Public Outreach Through Seismology Public Outreach

  6. The Earthquake Observatory of the 21st Century is a variety of things to a variety of people: • People feel earthquakes & are concerned about their effects. • People find out about earthquakes through news media & want the observatory to be a reliable resource to explain what happened. • Students record earthquakes with seismographs in schools. • Research seismologists record earthquakes in unprecedented ways & new earthquakes inform advances in research on a daily basis. • Earthquakes sometimes change the political landscape (such as Fukushima nuclear disaster…) • Large earthquakes are regional, and sometimes global, social events. • And, more...

  7. Fukushima’s Fallout: The Half-Lives of Nuclear Refugees To this day, the plant still leaks toxic, radioactive water and tens of thousands of “nuclear refugees” from nearby towns are still outcasts in their own lands. October 3, 2013

  8. Seismological observatories operate a variety of types of seismographs, each “tuned in” to some aspect of watching the Earth quake. We monitor earthquakes recorded by “research seismographs” and by “educational seismographs” in schools and other publicly accessible locations. Seismographs in classrooms, and other publicly accessible locations, give students of all ages direct experience with recording earthquakes. But these inexpensive educational seismographs are limited in terms of their quality of seismic recording compared to what can be achieved with much more expensive research seismographs. A new development is now enabling us to integrate these two aspects of our seismic recording. New software (currently in beta testing) calledjAmaSeis, being developed by Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology, in collaboration with Moravian College, makes it possible to bring educational and research seismograph data together in the same seismogram viewing and analysis environment. 

  9. jAmaSeis Boston College Sitting Bull Academy

  10. Peru, Magnitude 7.0 September 25, 2013 Weston Observatory Quiet site, but remote. Devlin Hall Noisy site, but direct access to seismograph.

  11. BC-ESP Bicoastal Quake Watchers August 10, 2013 jAmaSeis Weston, MA (WOBC) Boston College WOBC SBCA California 3.8 Apple Valley, CA (SBCA) Sitting Bull Academy Magnitude 3.8 California 3.8 3.3 Aftershock Magnitude 3.8 Earthquake: Pine Valley, California(and Magnitude 3.3 Aftershock)

  12. jAmaSeis August 4, 2013 Weston, MA (WOBC) Boston College Canada 5.3 Canada 5.3 WOBC California 3.9 Apple Valley, CA (SBCA) SBCA Sitting Bull Academy California 3.9 Canada 5.3

  13. Boston College Educational Seismology Project Hollis Center, Maine Magnitude 4.0 October 16, 2012 16 sec 16 sec Gleason Public Library Carlisle, MA Weston Observatory

  14. Magnitude 7.0 Earthquake: Alaska, August 30, 2013 Devlin Hall, Boston College (EQ1 Educational Seismograph) Weston, MA (NESN Research Seismograph)

  15. Magnitude 7.7 September 24, 2013 Magnitude 6.8 September 28, 2013 Pakistan Earthquake and Aftershock: Illustration of the Concept of Magnitude

  16. Possibilities for doing the same thing with earthquakes: People of all ages could interact with seismic data to engage in science “on the spot” in schools, libraries and other public places. “Touchfoil”Project: People of all ages interact with air quality data to engage in science “on the spot”... ? From: Mike Barnett Boston College Lynch School of Education

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