Sligo students given role in earthquake monitoring

‘Primary school students in Sligo will be able to monitor and detect shock waves from earthquakes all over the world’ - Devins

Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Jimmy Devins TD today (Thursday 16^th April 2009) announced the exciting pilot project in collaboration with the Seismology in Schools initiative run by the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS).

Students in the Mercy National School and St John’s National School in Sligo have been provided with their own seismometers and accompanying desktop computers which will allow them to detect shock waves from quakes all over the world as they are occurring.

"The purpose of Seismology in Schools is to introduce primary and secondary school students to the idea that science can be dynamic in everyday life. Earthquakes happen every day and we're hoping the schools can record them," explains Tom Blake, Experimental Officer in the Geophysics Section of the School of Cosmic Physics at DIAS.

There are 46 primary and second-level schools around the country involved in the Seismology in the School (Seismeolaíocht sa Scoil) initiative. Each school will actively record earthquakes from around the world using their own seismometers.

Last year Secondary School students in Scoil Chonglais, Baltinglass, Co Wicklow, were among the first in the world to receive news of an earthquake in China. The most recent devastating earthquake in L’Aquila in Central Italy on April 6^th was recorded by the seismometer installed in St Ailbe’s School in Rosanna Road, Tipperary Town.

The teachers involved are given training workshops, which are funded by Discover Science and Engineering, to show them how to use the equipment. The seismometer can be easily assembled. It serves as both a physics teaching tool and a seismometer.

There are other activities that can be done with the instrument. It can even be used to detect the onset of bad weather.

Minister Devins concluded ‘‘this enterprise will provide students with practical experience in seismology and will hopefully encourage students to choose Science and possibly Physics up to Leaving Cert level.’’

ENDS/IP96

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Sean Fitzpatrick, Press Adviser 087/6292386