The inaugural Science Quake of the Year

Congratulations to Beerwah State High School, the inaugural Science Quake of the Year winners. Read on to find out how they did it. Image: Beerwah State High School, AuScope edited

This year, schools jumped it out over National Science Week in the Science Quake of the Year competition. Schools that are part of the Australian Seismometers in Schools Network (AuSIS) were asked to get creative with their seismometer and wow us by recording a creative Footquake to win prizes while learning how seismology works. The Science Quake of the Year trophy and a book on Australian Geology were up for grabs.

Creating waves

The science quake of the year was devised to re-engage schools with the seismometer they host. Nothing is better than a competition and the promise of a shiny prize to get action at schools.

Seismometers connect students to our planet, providing them with real-time recordings of the big earthquakes we see in the news and the smaller ones we see closer to home.

Creating seismic waves in a creative foot quake helped students engage with their school’s seismometer, familiarising them with what it measures and how to look at the real-time data coming in.

Teamwork: measuring from the nearest student to the seismometer. Image: Ayr State High School

Ten schools across four states (Queensland, NSW, Victoria and Western Australia) competed for this year's ultimate prize. All were regional schools that don’t often get the opportunity to be involved in events like this.

Over 1700 students participated, with the largest cohort at Dubbo College South Campus, who ambitiously attempted to create a signal on the Dubbo College Senior campus, some 5 km away.

How to judge a Science Quake

The judging criteria: be creative! We wanted the smaller regional schools to have the same chance of winning as the big city schools. We also thought this would get the students thinking about how their Science Quake could stand out. They were asked to provide:

  • The date and time they jumped (so we could find their efforts on our Seismometer Network)

  • The distance from the seismometer to the closest person

  • How many jumpers participated

  • Whether it was a school or class event or community jump

  • What was special about their jump

The entries that came in were all very creative, but highlights included:

Students spelling out their school initials and filming the jump with a drone (Moama Anglican Grammar).

Initials captured from above. Image: Moama Anglican Grammar

A perfectly synchronised jump (Kulin District High School) and a rhythmic jump set to the song “We Will Rock You” by Queen (Marian Catholic College).

Well-timed: two perfectly synchronised jumps from Kulin District High School seismic signal and spectrogram. The signal is short and sharp, which is quite an achievement, with 120 students participating. Image: Michelle Salmon

Beerwah State High School, the winners of the inaugural Science Quake of the Year, spelt out their school name in morse code with the seismic signal. All the students jumped to make a dash and half jumped to make a dot. They showed us that they understood that more energy input gives a bigger seismic signal and that they could make an image of their signal straight from the seismometer.

Beerwah State High School’s winning seismic morse code. Image: Beerwah State High School

And did we get a signal from the Dubbo College jumpers? Well, the jury is still out on that; there is a signal that would be consistent with an S wave travelling close to the surface, but was it them or the students at the senior campus? We have sent a raspberry shake to Dubbo College South Campus, so maybe next year, we can tell for sure.

Dubbo Senior College South Campus managed to get 650 students to participate. They were an ambitious 5 km from the seismometer. The video above captures Dubbo Senior College South jumping and the image below shows the resulting signal and spectragram. Did they make it?

How did the competition land?

The Science Quake certainly got the AuSIS school community thinking; we hope the experience will mean more engagement with the program next year. We can already see the benefits from feedback received:

Inspiring the next STEM leaders

Events like these can leave a lasting impression on the students and the teachers. This year, we provided a few extra prizes to participating schools, including the fabulous book Shaping a Nation: A Geology of Australia. We hope that next year, even more students will participate, and with the help of the now enthusiastic teachers, we can make a real impact on the awareness of Earth Sciences and the hazards our young scientists may face on this shakey planet.

 
 
 

STORY IN A NUTSHELL
Over 1700 students competed in the NCRIS enabled AuSIS Science Quake of the Year and the results are in.

AUTHORS
Dr Michelle Salmon, Australian National University
Edited by Philomena Manifold, AuScope

FURTHER INFORMATION

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