GEOSCIENCE IN ACTION: THE OREGON SHAKES ACTIVITY LIBRARY FOR K-12 GEOSCIENCE EDUCATION

The mission of Oregon Shakes is to inspire the love of science and math in students of all ages by introducing them to the fascinating world of earthquakes. Our focus area includes K-12 schools and after school programs in the Central Oregon Coast. Living on an active continental margin in the Pacific Northwest provides the opportunity and motivation for students to learn more about the Earth underneath their feet and the associated geologic hazards it creates.

It is well known that the use of models is very effective in helping students understand difficult concepts and ideas. Hands on activities are particularly helpful in creating the motivation necessary for active student involvement. But creating models takes time and money. And in this environment of reduced state and federal funding for K-12 education we see crowded classrooms and overworked teachers who may find it difficult to have time to prepare and assemble hands on activities.

For this reason, we created a Geoscience Activity Library with dozens of kits which are available to teachers at no cost on a checkout basis. Each kit comes with multiple sets (to involve the entire class) of an activity to demonstrate a concept in Earth Science. It includes a CD with a lesson plan, handouts, instructions and video demonstrating how to use the kit. Teachers can view and reserve the available kits on the internet. Teachers can also request that a geoscientist be present to assist in the activity.

Examples of kits available include plate tectonic puzzles, fault blocks, geology squeeze boxes, understanding contour maps, seismic waves, GPS demonstrations, an optics experiment to help students understand the internal structure of the earth, a shake table where students learn to build a wall that can withstand an earthquake, build your own seismometer kits, and many more.

Teachers can even receive a real seismometer on loan for a month or more so that their students can watch earthquakes from around the world. The seismometer hooks up to a computer which serves as the data logger and software is included to analyze the earthquakes they record. When a student watches the first earthquake recorded by their seismograph, they are filled with excitement which creates a very fertile mind for learning more about the earth around them.