ASRA :: Earthquakes Module

All Shook Up in Denali
The Earthquakes module is held in Denali National Park!

Total cost is $1250, residential option only.

Study and experience the natural wonders of the Earth! Students will live in Denali National Park for 5 days, accompanied by a dedicated Park Ranger in addition to the two ASRA instructors. Students will see all the park has to offer, including wildlife in their natural habitat. One is almost guaranteed to see caribou, moose, grizzly bears, wolves and more. This module really ROCKS! Students from the last two years have had a blast. For a glimpse of the kind of fun you will have in this module check out this slide show from last year: CLICK HERE FOR SLIDESHOW

Alaska has more earthquakes every year than any other state in the country. These earthquakes are directly related to Alaska's mountain ranges, volcanoes, and tsunamis. This module combines sophisticated electronics and outdoor adventure as we track earthquake activity over the course of two weeks using Denali National Park as our laboratory. We will examine why and where earthquakes occur by exploring their impacts on Denali from the road and by hiking in the backcountry. We will learn how to read the record of vibrations called seismograms to determine where earthquakes have occurred and how big they are. The rest of our time will be devoted to analyzing the data we collect for earthquakes and other signals. Around the camp fire at night we will put together a website where we will publish the results of our investigation. Look at the 2006 ASRA student Earthquake webpage here and the 2007 website here. Half of this course will take place on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus with the other half located in Denali National Park. At the University we will learn about earthquakes and become familiar with recording equipment. We will put these skills to use at Denali National Park where we will install instruments to record earthquakes and then analyze our data.

 Students in this course should have an interest in hiking and camping. Our primary goal is to explore the science of earthquakes. However, we will be doing real field work with all the unpredictability of weather that accompanies summer in Alaska. It is recommended though not required that students have been exposed to geometry and/or trigonometry in school.

• Helena Buurman
• Grant Shimer