TeSS: Teaching Seismology in School: Europe trains its future scientists
Thanks to Erasmus + project, funded by the European Union, twelve lucky participants to the
seismology club were selected to represent our school and present their work on Seismology at a
workshop run by IT IS Majorana, Nola, Naples, Italy,one of the four participating schools to the TeSS
project. This trip was entirely financially supported by Erasmus +. The other partaking schools are
Centre International de Valbonne in Nice, France, Torquay Grammar school, Uk and Fulneck School.
The students were exposed to a wealth of new experiences, coping with language barriers, cultural
differences and developing skills such as team work, leadership, social interaction…
They came back happy and excited from this trip, having made new friends, even ready to learn a
new language. Find below an account, in their own words, of what they experienced.
The next workshop will take place in our French partner school, in Nice, in October.
Seismology club runs as an extra curricular activity on Thursdays, in the Physics department.
The whole group in front of the Bay of Naples and its Vesuvius
Day 1:
Volcanoes, such as Vesuvius, are often perceived as a permanent, fixed object that will remain for
many years but in fact, there is a great deal of movement and deformation leading to the idea that
the Earth contains forces that are of such great magnitude that they can melt rock and demolish
structures formed from rock. The observation is so simple, it simply is given as fact.
The Italian geologist Mercalli, who designed the first Vesuvis observatory and who died exactly 100
years ago, was very interested in Mount Vesuvius and its associated earthquakes. Mercalli classified
earthquakes using a scale with twelve divisions based upon the visible destruction generated by the
quake. This differs from the Richter scale that describes the magnitude of the earthquakes,
irrespective of the destructions they produce.
It is fascinating how simple his observations would later branch out to the understanding we
currently have of the composition and the dynamic of the internal Earth.
During the visit to the school, the Italian students were tasked with explaining the history of Mercalli
and his relationship with Mt. Vesuvius.
Working together: European team
of students working together on
designing the logo
Italian students explaining Mercalli scale and
his observations of volcanic eruptions and
earthquakes
Mercalli exposition: study of his life
and achievement , led by the Italian
students.
The students worked in teams of five bringing
members of all the participating schools to
create a logo for the Erasmus+ project, the
groups consisted of students from each school
who chose to talk in one of the languages that
all of the members knew. The knowledge of
English on part of the Italian students was
extremely helpful in collaborating with
members of different nationalities. Google
Translate was a helpful tool to help
communicate. The groups designed logos and
the entries were put into competition and a
winner was decided on a poll basis.
The winning logo of the TESS project
The reward after this afternoon of work was the visit of the ruin of Villa Augusturio. The ruin that
was dated from the 1st to the 5th century AD showed the architectural origins of the Italian culture
but in social teams, the spectacle, I find, provides a glimpse towards the mentality of the nobles in
the day.
Villa Augusturio, a
gigantesque excavation
supported by the University
of Tokyo.
This structure was used by several generations and it had been partially modified to suit the later
owners. The social area was divided so that part of the space was a larder and a stable, this indicates
the occupants were leaning toward a more practical stance, possibly due to the tactical position of
the ruin. This may have been designed to facilitate a quick escape, by process of deduction you can
date when there was conflict and all of the reminisce of the modifications will have unique and
intricate detail that can only be deciphered by careful deduction; an archaeological 'fly caught in
amber'. The devastation caused by the eruption is countered when ash became rock and stopped
oxygen causing decay of historical substances.
Text by Aquila Powell
Day 2
Today's activities consisted of an excellent range of programmes, starting with the brilliant hosts
adapting us into their environment as they welcomed us for the second time at their school
Professore Miranda welcomed us and explained the range of activities and tasks taking place today.
Bianca took over providing information on their school and what it offers e.g the age ranges of
students in the school and the subjects taught e.g maths, science and Italian. She also took time to
explain seismic risks and teaching seismology in schools.
Each school involved in the project was asked to present their school, as well as their work in their
respective seismology club.
Fulneck School shone as we presented
our video designed by Christina, Ellis
and Stephanie and on what Fulneck
has to offer including our boarding
facilities, culture and our Moravian
heritage. This video was received with
a massive round of applause from our
audience.
presentation afterwards comparing
two of the seismometers set up in our
Physics lab demonstrated by Aquilla,
Daniel Newman and problems we
faced installing the seismometers
explained by Sonachi. Tom described
the different types of earthquakes and
which seismometer is more sensitive.
Daniel Mohun concluded for the team.
We also demonstrated our goals and aims in a
This then lead onto a presentation by Nathan, Lewie, Sam and Annabelle about how they intend on
teaching young pupils ages 10-11 about seismology.
The French team then presented the centre International de Valbonne, a very large school with
facilities such as laboratories, observatory, cinema, radio, bus stations, media library and a science/
technology park .They worked on maritime recording of earthquakes, the seismometers being
located inside a buoy, called a mermaid.
As they rounded up to finish it was time for the Torquay girls to present their own presentations on
their school such as where they are located which is in the southwest of England. They worked on
the seismic wave propagation inside the Earth.
Later on, taken by the Italian students, was a talk on different types of seismic waves, such as the P
wave (primary wave) and S wave ( secondary wave). We applause them due to their courage and the
fact that their presentation was in a different language in which they are not use to.
We concluded the morning event with a talk from a professor from Naples university on seismic risk
mitigation and the development on an Earthquake Early Warning system.
Text by Sonachi Obasi
After a highly interesting morning, we headed for the new observatory in Naples, run by
INGV, Instituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologica.
We were given a highly interesting talk about
earthquakes and how they are generated I found
it very interesting especially when comparing the
seismic risk of Britain, France and Italy. Then we
were taken to the operation room which was
large with all the walls covered in monitors
displaying seismic activities in Italy and its
volcanoes. We listened to one of the members
of staff in the operations room, manned 24
hours a day, explaining her work.
After this highly educational afternoon we departed for Solfatara, which is part of a chain of
40 volcanoes, where pressures below the crust have created a convection that has
deformed the rock in the ground. Then we were a lecture by an experienced tour guide who
explained the vents and the gases. The smell of rotten eggs was overpowering. The guide
demonstrated how ash could summon water vapour from the ground by waving a
newspaper on fire.
Samuel, daring to approach a fumarole.
Then we saw the temple of Pozzuolli,
famous for showing traces of past
subsidence, because it is located on top of
a magma chamber. That was very
impressive.
Text by Thomas Green
Day Three
Three days into our trip and today was jam packed
with historical paradise, one was the ancient city
destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius at the same
time as Pompeii called the Herculaneum and then a
physically demanding short walk up to the top of the
beautiful mountain Vesuvius standing high above
the city of Naples.
Herculaneum was destroyed by the eruption of
Vesuvius in 79 AD which covered it with an impressive amount of mud, ash and other eruptive
materials from a pyroclastic flow which is 600 degrees Celsius and travels at 90 mph consumed the
town, at a depth of 16 metres. Then rainwater mixed with the materials and solidified the mud,
preserving many of the cities wonders in time. The preservation of a huge amount of furniture,
mosaics and paintings shows us what the culture of the people in the 1st century was like and gives
us an idea of how they lived daily life.
Located below the current city,
Herculaneum was buried by 16 m of ash
during the 79AD eruption
The remains of the former inhabitants who
had seek refuge in boat house, hoping to
escape by see..only to suffocate and die
from the pyroclastic flow.
Four years before the eruption part of the city was destroyed by an earthquake, but then filled in by
the pyroclastic flows that covered the city, since then large amounts of excavation. I felt that this is
more interesting than Pompeii because it is better preserved, which allows you to experience their
life and culture. It isn't as large as Pompeii, making it less impressive.
Later we travelled to Mount Vesuvius. We began to climb, it was very difficult as the volcanic rock
made it a lot of effort to climb up. If you take one step you slide back a bit. This made it very difficult.
After a further 30 minutes of intense walking, we were finally at the top of this deadly volcano. We
could not take very good pictures, due to the then cloud cover.
We stayed at the top of the volcano for
about 20 minutes, we started to travel
back to the coach. There were several
trips and slips. Yet we managed
unharmed. When we arrived at the
bottom, we had some free time.
Several students stopped and bought
souvenirs.
We then left for the coach, and was quickly on our way. We first had to drop of the Italians, before
heading back to the hotel, where we went to the shops and swam in the swimming pool. We had a
delicious dinner before bed.
Text by Daniel Newman
Day 4
On the Sunday of our trip, we ventured around Napoli, the heart of Naples. We walked down the
typical narrow streets and visited the sights. One was Il Diuomo Cattedrale Di Napoli, which is a
delicately sculpted cathedral. With high ceilings and beautiful antique paintings, it truly was a
spectacular sight.
After a short walk around the busy streets of Napoli, we were left to explore out on our own.
We looked around the city in small groups. Naples is known for its leather so we saw many stalls and
shops selling wallets, belts and woven bracelets. It is also known for its food. We sampled local
delicacies like fried pizza and chocolatey treats.
The famous dome of Il Duomo
Now, of course, you can't come to Italy without some good old fashioned Ice cream. Mr Harrison led
the group to find a suitable ice cream parlour. As a group we came to a conclusion: Italian food is
awesome.
We went on a bus tour around the city. The bus driver showed us some of the most beautiful sights
in Naples which really were breathtaking. We stopped for photo opportunities and took massive
group photos.
When we came back to the hotel we all relaxed around by the pool. After dinner the French girls set
up a disco for all of us. Overall it was quite a good day!
Text by Stephanie Harrison and Christina Pullin
Day 5
In our fourth day we travelled to Pompeii by coach. When
we got there, we shared a guide with the Torquay girls
and she was very good – her English was perfect and her
knowledge was amazing, she was able to answer all our
questions! We started outside the city walls, on an old
road lined with the ruins of the tombs (mainly the noble
families of Pompeii). It was very impressive and you could
also see the names of the families the tombs belonged
to. Alongside this, she showed us the deposits of the
pyroclastic flow with distinct layers that geologists use to reconstruct the eruptive activity of Vesuvius.
We entered the city to a magnificent sight- a large amphitheatre which is the oldest one in the world
dating back to 89 B.C. Here we learnt this is where the gladiators battled to death in a bloody fight in
front of hundreds of people. Gladiators were originally slaves and they were forced to do fight even
though many times it resulted in death.
Moving onward, we saw something amazing and
extremely touching; the plaster casts of those who
died in the eruption of 79 A.D. The archaeologists
were able to make these because the city was
covered in ash not lava. The ash settled around the
people encasing them in a stone like substance as
they were living and moving. Due to this, and the
flesh decomposed and left the bones, the original
position of a person’s death was literally frozen in
time. It was amazing to see, but also extremely sad
because there were young children and a man
whose facial expression was perfectly preserved.
As we walked through the main streets we came to a spectacular large house with beautiful gardens.
It was the house of what we would call in these days a politician. As you passed through the city, you
could see graffiti on the walls of his name as propaganda for the last election that occurred in the
March before the eruption. It was amazing to think that they were this democratic - just like we are
nowadays.
As we passed the shops and houses of the 'plebs' (poorer people of Pompeii) we came to a large
opening known as the plaza. You could see
temples of the gods and old pottery. The floor was
originally covered in marble but only a few stones
of this remained. At the time of the eruption the
plaza was actually undergoing restoration
because of the earthquake that happened in 69
A.D. This was a pre-warning sign that the eruption
was coming, but people living in Pompeii believed
it was the gods who were angry at them. Due to
seismology nowadays we know different.
This led us to the end of the tour. Pompeii was amazing.
Text by Annabelle Swift and Ellis Lill