General Topic: Earthquakes

Narrowing the Topic:

1. Earthquake damage to buildings
2. Earthquake arrival time versus predicted arrival time.
3. Make an earthquake model.

Guidelines for topic selection: The teacher needs to guide the student to select a topic that : a.) has a workable hypothesis, b.) will have an experimental procedure, c.) will lead to data collection and analysis, and d.) leads to conclusion(s). The three topics listed above are all possible if they are further investigated. The most general of the three is number 1. This idea must be more specific. There are various ways that students could study damage. This topic is too general. The third idea could be developed into a projec, but the student needs to understand they he/she will need to have a hypothesis and then test the hypothesis through experimentation. The building of a kit or model without experimentation and analysis is not appreciated by judges. The second topic idea would be the most specific of the three. It however also could be expanded to study various variables that influence any time differences. Questions such as: What type of waves will be studied?, Will the depth of the quakes be considered?, What PEPP seismometer stations will be used for data collection? need to be considered.

Topic Selection: The student selects a topic and develops a purpose statement and hypothesis after researching the topic. Examples of Possible Hypotheses:

1. P Wave arrival time at Ohio’s PEPP station, PPFAY will be consistently 5 to 15 seconds faster than the DRM estimated arrival time.
2. Bedrock seismometer placement in Ohio lessens differences in estimated versus actual P Wave arrival times.
3. A Glacial till seismometer sensor vault lengthens the arrival time of earthquake signals.

Procedure Development: The student(s) develop a procedure for experimentation. An example would be to obtain earthquake records from three Ohio PEPP stations for a minimum of ten events. The Princeton Data Request Message suggested arrival time will be obtained and compared to the P Wave arrival time at each station. Data will be recorded, and any differences in arrival times will be calculated, analyzed, and graphed.

Topic/Hypothesis/Procedure Review: The teacher and student(s) discuss the suggested topic, hypotheses, and procedures.

Protocol Forms: The appropriate protocol papers are completed and submitted to the Scientific Review Committee (SRC) and if needed, to other review committees.

If needed, corrections to the protocol forms and procedures are made and resubmitted to the review committees. If none are required, then the student(s) can begin their project.

It is strongly suggested that a timeline for completion of various stages of the project be developed for the student scientists to follow. This will encourage students to complete their projects over time and "not at the last minute". Please view Figure 7. This is a sample of a timeline.

Experimentation, data recording, and report writing styles will vary according to the project selected and the references that the student(s) and teachers have used or researched.