The EduSeis project in Italy: an educational tool for training and increasing awarness on the seismic risk

Abstract

The Educational Seismology Project (EduSeis) is a scientific and educational effort which involves high schools, scientific museums and research institutes in four different European countries: France, Italy, Portugal, and Germany. This paper discusses the Italian program, which is part of an existing cooperation between the Science Centre Città della Scienza of Naples and the University of Naples. The program has the aim of developing modern and advanced educational tools in Earth Sciences, using seismology as a vehicle for scientific learning. In a region characterized by an elevated seismic and volcanic risk, the EduSeis project has a remarkable impact on the prevention of the seismic risk. This effect is achieved in two ways: by involving students, teachers and their familes in schools and by using museum to educate the general public. Although there is a risk of strong earthquakes in the Mediterranean area, the amount of information and awakening to the seismic prevention are insufficient by comparison with analogous initiatives undertaken in other seismic regions in the world. The EduSeis project in Italy has recently received financial support from the Department of Civil Protection through the National Group for Earthquake Defense of INGV (Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia). As a result of this program, a network of digital seismographs has been installed in a number of high schools in Central and Southern Italy. The purpose of this network is to make advanced, research-level instruments and data analysis tools available to schools and to increase the attention of student’s attention to observations of earth phenomena and earth science in general. Products from the network are available to the schools hosting the EduSeis seismograph, the Science Centre's visitors and to the general public via an Internet web site (http://eduseis.na.infn.it). The project has several educational, scientific and social aims. The main educational objectives are to expose and teach students (and teachers) to internet-based networking and data transfer as well as the acquisition, analysis and interpretation of seismological data. For example, students gain practice in long-term measurements and analysis of time variable parameters for experiments. An important task associated with these objectives is to develop, upgrade and test educational modules on seismology and other disciplines (electronics, physics, informatics) using informatics and web-oriented tools. In addition, the project offers the opportunity for students and researchers from different countries to exchange programs and ideas. The main scientific objective is the creation of a school-based earthquake waveform database, which may eventually be integrated with the national and international databases. An additional objective is the development and testing of hardware and software components of an advanced, but low-cost seismic acquisition system, according to the general requirements of the best quality/cost ratio as constrained by school budgets. Among the social objectives we would like to establish a direct link between the scientific community and schools and general public; to increase the student and public awareness on seismic risk; and to use seismological observations as a vehicle to learn about the dynamics and evolution of the Earth.