EARTHQUAKE! AN ANIMATION IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS

Seismology has a visual-spatial component that can be challenging to explain. This physics-driven science incorporates large-scale tectonic structures with sub-microscopic seismic-wave behavior. Plus, most of the action occurs deep below Earth’s surface and can only be modeled mathematically. A pedagogical approach is to animate plate tectonic and earthquake processes by compressing time from centuries to seconds and scaling dimensions from 100s of kilometers to centimeters.

The effectiveness of animations is due in part because they provide cognitive pathways to learning. A well-designed animation can enable learners to focus directly on scientific concepts thus increasing student interest and motivation. To encourage this, the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) has promoted collaboration between Earth scientists and physicists to create simple one-topic animations, with over 120 animations available online. These are not meant to turn boring lectures into entertainment, but rather to walk the viewer through tricky concepts such as magnitude, intensity, and focal mechanisms. Draft animations are vetted through seismologists familiar with the topic who must approve the science, characterizations, and simplifications.

Our customary pattern of constructing an animation recognizes that comprehension and retention of complex topics increases when short, accurate, narrated animations convey difficult concepts by: 1) using greatly distorted, highly simplified cartoons to emphasize processes that can’t be viewed in scaled models; 2) employing schematic, rather than realistic images, to clarify relations between objects rather than simulate reality; 3) adding text, arrows, highlighting, and other methods to direct attention to critical changes in order to assist viewers in understanding sequences of events; 4) adding light humor to reduce classroom anxiety and create a positive atmosphere, thus increase retention and recall.

Feedback from middle-school educators to undergraduate faculty, with a range of content expertise, has been very positive and helpful, as the feedback is used to improve existing animations and drive the process of new animation creation.