INTEGRATING CURRENT TSUNAMI RESEARCH INTO EARTH SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING CURRICULUM AT LOCAL AND REMOTE SITES

The NEES Tsunami Research Facility, housed at the O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory (HWRL) at Oregon State University is home to cutting-edge tsunami engineering research. Our outreach and education program enriches curriculum (grades 4-14) by capitalizing on tsunami research questions to create activities that integrate societal relevance into the application of design- build- test process of engineering. These activities also integrate engineering into earth science curriculum. One example is The “Tsunami Structures Challenge” activity which generates excitement and enthusiasm by allowing students to use the Tsunami Wave Basin to test their own structures. The HWRL hosts over 1500 middle school and high school students each year, including over 500 with Tsunami Structure challenge. We developed the activity to be used at remote sites, utilizing the telepresence capabilities of the research facility, leveraging our activities to students that would otherwise not be able to participate