ILLINOIS EarthScope 2010: A TEACHER WORKSHOP INTEGRATING MATH, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Illinois EarthScope 2010 is a workshop for middle and high school Earth Science teachers in which teachers integrate Big Science (EarthScope) and small science in Illinois (field work and field trips). The workshop is funded by the United States Department of Education through the Illinois State Board of Education. The depth to the Moho in Illinois is an exercise in the workshop that introduces the teachers to scalable science and resolution. The teachers were introduced to EarthScope Observatories and some of the EarthScope science products. Then were introduced to seismic waves, how they are detected, and how they can be used to determine depth to changes of materials. Then they laid out a 60 meter geophone spread on a football practice field. Teachers took turns at hammering at geophone spacing (5 meter spacing, 5 blow stacking) along the line. The data was gathered and recorded by a Seistronic RAS 24. The teachers also visited EarthScope Backbone Station HDIL. HDIL is part of the Advanced National Seismic System and part of the Plate Boundary Observatory. In the classroom, the teachers solved a simple depth to refractor problem and then scaled up to using first arrival data from the April 18, 2008, southern Illinois Earthquake (M 5.2) to determine the depth to the mantle. With limited data graphed on 10 squares to an inch paper, the calculated depths ranged from 26 to 53 kilometers. Careful plots on large graph paper yielded a depth of 40.7 kilometers, which is consistent with published values. Most of the teachers volunteered to help shoot 4 seismic lines used in a thesis project. They did science and they have to images and videos that they can take into their classrooms.