Seismic Impact

2022 Oct 19th

2022 Great ShakeOut Day

The 2022 Great ShakeOut Day is October 20! ShakeOut earthquake drills are an opportunity to practice how to be safer during earthquakes:  Drop, Cover and Hold On. Students may not know where they will be when an earthquake occurs, but they can know how to protect t... Continue Reading
2022 Aug 23rd

Did the ground move near me?

As you prepare your Earth science lesson plans, consider creative ways to teach earthquakes. How can you make earthquakes relevant to all your students? Do you know you can search for recent seismic recordings in your region - or around the world? Do you have access to earthquake data your stud... Continue Reading
2022 Aug 18th

Earthquakes in the Classroom: How IRIS Brings Seismology to Students

French, Spanish, Latin, and Earth Science. One of those might seem misplaced, but, when it comes to vocabulary, Earth Science can be just as esoteric to students. “I tell kids it’s almost like another language, and to understand the Earth, you have to know the vocabulary,” says Dav... Continue Reading
2022 Aug 18th

Magic In the Model: How One Teacher Uses Computer Simulations to Teach Earthquakes

Roger Groom, an Earth Science teacher at Mt. Tabor Middle School in the Portland Public School District, enjoys that moment when students’ eyes brighten with understanding. Teaching young learners about earthquakes is both practical and can feel abstract to some students. With over 22 years of... Continue Reading
2022 Jun 17th

Meritocracy Monopoly

Monopoly was originally created by Elizabeth Magie in 1903 to protest against monopolists like Carnegie and Rockefeller. In that spirit, the current game has been used to demonstrate systemic inequalities and structural discrimination in society, including pay inequity, class stratification, re... Continue Reading
2022 Jun 7th

Creating music and art with seismic waves!

Some enterprising individuals — scientists who love to create music and artists who seek unique sources of sounds — use seismic waves to produce music by speeding up the playback of data recorded by seismic sensors so that it is in the audible range that people can hear. Stati... Continue Reading