GEOLOGIC HAZARDS EDUCATION AT PATTON MIDDLE SCHOOL, McMinnville, OREGON

Earthquakes, destruction, and hands-on activities fascinate middle school students. To engage these interests, I designed a guided-inquiry in which students investigate maps and models that demonstrate earthquake processes and local earthquake hazards. Students work in groups of two or three and visit stations around the classroom where they explore a map or work with a model of earthquake processes or hazards. At each station, a brief introduction to the map or activity is provided along with a set of questions that students answer in their science notebooks. Questions are designed to encourage analyses of map patterns and manipulation of models to increase student understanding of earthquake processes and Pacific Northwest earthquake hazards. Examples of stations are: (1) the “earthquake machine” sandpaper and wood block earthquake model; (2) Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries relative earthquake hazard map for McMinnville; (3) computer animations of tsunamis; and (4) liquefaction in a pan. Advantages of the multi-station guided-inquiry approach are increased student interest, cooperative learning, student-centered learning, and the variety of activities accomplished. Questions and stations can easily be designed to focus on state science education standards. One motivation for designing this geologic hazards activity was the 2008 Teachers on the Leading Edge workshop that increased my knowledge of earthquake science and provided the required posters, maps, and models of earthquake processes and hazards.