Seismology in schools: 10 years on

The 21st century will hold huge challenges for the next generation of geoscientists coming to terms with climate change and its associated effects. These new challenges come on top of the ever-present threat from devastating earthquakes and volcanoes to ever larger urban conurbations around the world. Unfortunately, as outlined in the August 2008 issue of A&G, the UK curriculum authorities have chosen to downplay geoscience topics within the secondary science curriculum, often marginalizing them into geography or geology courses. However, the geoscientist of the near future will need a strong background in maths and physics as well as an appreciation of geography. The UK School Seismology Project aims to influence the future development of the science curriculum by demonstrating that good fundamental school physics can be taught using earthquakes and seismology as a hook to grab students' attention.