The DIAS Outreach Seismology in Schools (Seismeolaí­ocht sa Scoil) Pilot Programme

Ireland has technology to thank for the 'Celtic Tiger' Revolution, yet over the last half decade fewer and fewer Irish students are completing high school with a science focus. To counter this trend, and to ensure a supply of Irish geophysicists for the future, it is important to engage and fascinate young minds with the wonders of physics and of the Earth we live on. The Geophysics Section of the School of Cosmic Physics in the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) has been running an Outreach programme for some years, but there was a more general public orientation to the programme. In an effort to bring DIAS's science directly to the schools, we have launched a pilot programme, coincidentally and fortuitously during the International Year of Planet Earth (IYPE), in Seismology in Schools (Seismeolaíocht sa Scoil) that introduces young students to the world of seismology and earthquake research. The launch of DIAS's Seismology in Schools programme has been aided considerably through IRIS's (The Incorporated Institutes for Research Seismology) contributions of their AMASEIS software, that is used to display the data output from the seismometer, and educational posters and demonstration software used to teach Earth Science to students, and through BGS's design and development of the educational seismometer, which is a Lehman pattern horizontal motion seismometer using a garden-gate offset suspension pendulum. Initially, we planned for a very tentative pilot with just two seismometers rotating around local schools, but the Directors of the Educational Centres across Ireland (ATECI, Association of Teachers/Education Centres in Ireland) have become key players in this pilot by purchasing a further 34 seismometers and promoting this initiative among their school. In addition, Geological Survey of Ireland (GSI) has purchased a further four seismometers as part of their contribution to IYPE. Currently 36 schools are participating in the enlarged pilot programme; 18 primary schools, 17 secondary schools and one vocational training scheme. In primary schools the focus is with 5th and 6th year class projects. In the secondary school system, the pilot programme is seen as an excellent Transition Year (aged 16) project. We have held "Train the Teacher" Workshops in April-May 2008, with the assistance of the Education Centres throughout the country, to roll out the pilot programme across Ireland. A maximum of ten teachers attended each training workshop, which included primary and secondary school teachers of both Physics and Geography. During the academic year 2008-2009 the students at the 36 schools will work with earthquake data, use the educational software and generally becoming more aware of the Earth as a dynamic planet. Teachers and students will implement a programme of reporting on the earthquakes they record throughout the year to DIAS and initiate the exchange of earthquake data between participating schools in Ireland by use of the internet. The pilot will continue until April 2009 when a final report will be written to evaluate the success and future direction of the initiative. Based on the overwhelming interest shown to date, we envisage enlarging the programme further and working toward twinning the Schools with counterparts around the world. The pilot programme is funded by internal DIAS funds and also by a grant from the government agency DSE (Discover Science & Engineering).