MOBILE EARTHQUAKE EXHIBITION - A NON-FORMAL ENVIRONMENT SUIT FOR GEOPHYSICAL EDUCATION AND RAISING AWARENESS

Romania is a very active country from a seismological point of view, but not too reactive when it comes to diminishing the possible effect of a major earthquake. In the last few decades, the country has experienced several major earthquakes which have claimed thousands of lives and millions of property damage (Vrancea, 1940; 1977; 1986). Project MOBEE (MOBile Earthquake Exhibition) plans to make a change regarding the approach to this subject, by using the power of information and non-formal education.

MOBEE project intends to tackle a very problematic topic for the present and future of Romania: the quality of education, in the perspective of a future major earthquake. And not just in a declarative, formal way, but in a practical manner, by translating modern approaches in geoscience, arts and computer science into end-products with a direct impact in forming and developing the interest for earth science, at different levels and at a significant scale. Through this project we intend to develop a portable exhibition for museums and other educational events that focus on seismology, seismic hazard and Earth Sciences, aiming to change the public perception about earthquakes, and be used as an education tool outside the school environment. The exposition consists of a cluster of connected wall panels of different building materials in a mock “earthquake zone,” setting the stage for all of the interactive components.

The exhibition will be mainly focused to school students of all ages, but also open for the wide public, and explains the main topics of geophysics through posters, movie and slide presentations, and exciting interactive experiments.

This project is unique in Romania and it supposes transmitting the latest reviewed pieces of information, regarding the definition of earthquakes, the way natural hazards can affect people, buildings and environment and the measures to be taken for prevent an earthquake aftermath. Many of the presented concepts can be used by teachers as a complementary way of demonstrating physics facts and concepts (e.g.: forces, stress, waves, oscillation, coil, damping, convection) and to explain the processes that shape the features of a dynamic Earth (tectonic forces, convection cells, mantle flow, subduction). It also involves developing particular skills by getting in contact with exhibition elements and researchers.