HR: 12:05h
AN: ED32A-08    [Abstracts]
TI: UPSeis - Visiting Seismographs for K-12 Schools
AU: * Wagner, S R
EM: srwagner@mtu.edu
AF: Michigan Technological University, Department of G.M.E.S. 1400 Townsend Dr., Houghton, MI 49931 United States
AU: Len, S
EM: smlen1@excite.com
AF: Michigan Technological University, Department of G.M.E.S. 1400 Townsend Dr., Houghton, MI 49931 United States
AU: Pennington, W D
EM: wayne@mtu.edu
AF: Michigan Technological University, Department of G.M.E.S. 1400 Townsend Dr., Houghton, MI 49931 United States
AB: Upper Peninsula Seismic Experiments in Schools (UPSeis) is an educational program developed to engage K-12 students in hands-on activities learning about earthquakes and Earth science. The system is intended to enhance teaching earth sciences to students, typically using teleseismic and regional earthquakes recorded directly in the classroom. This seismograph is computer-based and self-contained, requiring no hook-ups to the Internet or to advanced timing devices. It is easy to operate and relatively inexpensive to purchase. The UPSeis curriculum is designed so that a seismograph operates in a classroom for two or three months at a time, allowing the recording of at least 2 to 3 very large earthquakes somewhere in the world. The system comes with classroom activities, which are broken into several units, such as 'Seismic Waves', 'The UPSeis Technique' and 'Earthquake Hazards'. Within each unit, activities are rated for the appropriate grade level. All of the units have also been correlated to the Michigan Content Standards, and are easily adaptable to other state educational content standards as well. Our intention is to assist teachers and volunteers with bringing earth science into the classroom, by making it easier to obtain and operate seismographs. Ideally, a sponsor (University or Company) will pay for a system and any related costs. We further plan to train volunteers at conferences and meetings (such as AGU or SEG) in order to train them on a system and provide them with the knowledge required to assist teachers in the classroom. The volunteer would be available to come into the school and work with the teacher and students on some of the activities, particularly after they have recorded an earthquake. In addition, the volunteer would rotate their system between local area schools every 2 or 3 months. This allows teachers to use the system for a few months without the concern for maintenance of a permanent system. For schools interested in having a permanent system, they would be referred to IRIS, MichSeis, PEPP, or similar group.
DE: 7200 SEISMOLOGY
DE: 0800 EDUCATION
DE: 0805 Elementary and secondary education
DE: 0845 Instructional tools
SC: Education and Human Resourcese [ED]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting