Earthquakes in the classroom

Education plays a crucial role in raising young people's awareness about earthquake (or seismic) risk. This is where the seismo@school initiative comes in. The Increasing Earthquake Awareness in Switzerland project, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), is now drawing to an end, but its impact will continue. The established network of schools, the installed seismometers, and the developed teaching resources provide a sustainable foundation for further activities. The Seismo-at-School website and core materials, together with basic support for the Raspberry Shake seismometers, create important conditions for continued engagement with seismology in the school classroom.

The earthquake risk in Switzerland is often underestimated, because severe events only occur every 50–150 years or so on average. A fact that is often overlooked is that earthquakes are the natural hazard with the greatest potential for damage in Switzerland. With a view to raising awareness of earthquakes in Switzerland, the seismo@school project, working in partnership with geography teachers, developed practical teaching resources and provided insights into ongoing research. These tools help teachers to embed earthquakes more firmly in their lessons, while also promoting interest in STEM subjects (i.e. science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and highlighting geosciences-related career opportunities.

Teaching resources on five topics relating to earthquakes

Five teaching modules on earthquakes are publicly available on the Swiss Seismological Service (SED) website. An introductory module teaches basic concepts such as the causes of earthquakes, earthquake waves, effects and appropriate behaviour when an event happens. The other modules cover earthquake hazard and risk, earthquake monitoring, induced seismicity and misinformation regarding earthquakes. The last of the modules mentioned here focuses in particular on the rapid spread of misinformation on social media and sheds light on some common myths about earthquakes that circulate in particular in times of crisis, e.g. after a major earthquake.

The modules are aimed at cantonal schools and baccalaureate or upper secondary level schools and are designed for young people aged between 12 and 18. Combining interactive components, practical exercises and images, they can be used in the classroom in their entirety or on a modular basis. All the resources were developed in close collaboration with teachers and aligned with curricula and everyday school activities.

Schools measuring earthquakes themselves

The project has centred on the installation of 'Raspberry Shake' seismometers. In all, 45 devices have been set up at the types of schools mentioned above. Schools can use them to record and analyse local events such as the earthquake near Mürren in the canton of Bern, big earthquakes worldwide or even a rockfall such as the one in Blatten in the canton of Valais. The seismometers also allow some simple experiments to be carried out: if members of a class jump off their chairs at the same time, clap in time or generate other vibrations, the recorded signals can be analysed and compared using seismograms or spectrograms, offering a practical approach to earthquake research. Just a few clicks in the specially developed online tool at rs-viewer.ethz.ch take users to the data recorded by all the schools' seismometers.

A do-it-yourself seismometer

The Lambda Slinky Seismometer kit, so called because of its shape, can be assembled in around 30 minutes. It gives a user-friendly explanation of how a seismometer works: once it has been set up, the device responds to jumps or thumps and displays the relevant data in real time on a small screen. While this is not a scientific instrument, it does provide a fun and effective way to study various recorded signals in the classroom. Teachers who are interested can order such a kit by sending an email to seismo_at_school@sed.ethz.ch.