Larger imageAttendees of the workshop enjoyed activities and talks presented by a variety of experts.

by Andre Mor

The Southern California Earthquake Center held an earthquake education workshop for local teachers at the Association of Environmental and Engineering Geologists annual meeting, on September 29. A total of 24 teachers from local middle and high schools attended the workshop that was held at the Sheraton Hotel at Universal City, Los Angeles.

"We handed out lesson plans about earthquake safety to the teachers, and they also got to do activities, which they could do with their classes, that demonstrated the nature of earthquakes," said Gema Venegas, Education Program Assistant for SCEC.

All topics taught in the workshop are aligned with the California K-12 Science Content Standards. Among the activities presented were plate puzzles (large maps cut apart that show how the planet’s tectonic plates interact), and a demonstration from an "earthquake machine" (a device with a brick sliding on sandpaper that shows how hard it is to predict earthquakes).

Larger imageKris Weaver Bowman guides workshop participants in creating fault maps.

The teachers were each given an Earthquake Country Los Angeles Educators kit. The kit includes a DVD copy of the video Earthquake Country Los Angeles, a SCEC Resources CD, a lesson plan, and maps provided by the Automobile Club of Southern California.

The workshop included many distinguished speakers from the SCEC community, such as Sue Hough, Scientist-in-Charge from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Pasadena Field Office and Kris Weaver Bowman, a lecturer from the Department of Geological Sciences at Cal State Fullerton. Sue gave a presentation based on her book Finding Fault in California: An Earthquake Tourist's Guide. Kris provided insight into the science of earthquakes while also engaging the teachers in several activities that could be used in the classroom. Erik Pounders (USGS) provided an overview about the Earthquake Country Alliance's "Dare to Prepare" campaign for earthquake safety and awareness.

Larger imageSue Hough speaks on the connection between the landscape of southern California and our network of earthquake faults.

"Each of the participants received a copy of Hough’s book Finding Fault in California because it is the best resource of its kind available. Sue is very good at explaining complex ideas to the non-specialist audience," said Robert de Groot, K-12 and Informal Education Program Manager for SCEC, who organized the workshop. "Our goal with this workshop was to feature products from the larger SCEC community and put more emphasis on teaching people about earthquakes in their 'front yard.' The workshop approached the study of earthquakes from the standpoint of place-based education." Place-based education encourages students and educators to investigate the local environment as a means to understand larger patterns and relationships in nature.

According to de Groot, one of the ideas behind the workshop was to build a sustained relationship with educators and to re-enforce the idea that SCEC is a collaboration that spans many institutions.