Lesson 1: Get Shaking!
An Introduction to Seismology and Seismographs
Lesson Objective
Introduce students to the fundamental concepts of seismology, including:
- What seismology is and how seismographs work.
- How the geophone detects vibrations.
- The process of data collection, processing, and usage.
- Setting up and using a Raspberry Shake device.
(Note: While you may opt to set up the Shake beforehand, demonstrating the setup process in class can be a simple yet powerful way to engage students.)
Using a Raspberry Shake opens up interdisciplinary learning opportunities for all ages and grade levels. It connects with subjects like Earth Science, Physics, Computer Science, Engineering, and Mathematics. The Raspberry Shake is an excellent demonstration of how technology helps us interpret and interact with the natural world.
Classroom Preparation:
- Ensure your Raspberry Shake is ready and connected to the internet (setup instructions
available here ). - Provide students access to laptops or tablets with internet connectivity.
- Print student reading materials (optional)
Preparation Tip: Complete the Shake setup guide and review the Classroom Tips page before teaching with the Shake.
Learning Context/Anticipatory Set:
Introduce Raspberry Shake as an exciting, hands-on scientific tool for your classroom. Spark
curiosity by demonstrating its setup and displaying real-time seismic data. Follow these steps to
engage your students:
Steps for Engagement:
- Show the Shake to the class (unplugged).
- Plug the Shake in and observe the lights turning on.
- Open a browser and type rs.local to find your Shake. Navigate to StationView to view live data streaming.
- Gather the class, count down together, and jump as a group—watch the seismic activity
appear on screen in real time!
Follow up by going through this brief presentation to explain what Raspberry Shake is.
Key Terms
- Analog: Data produced by measuring continuous physical variables such as voltage or pressure.
- Anthropogenic: Caused or produced by human activity.
- Geologic Fault: A fracture or break in the Earth’s crust.
- Geophone: A sensor that detects ground vibrations
- Seismic: Related to ground movement.
- Seismic Wave: Acoustic energy that travels through Earth’s layers.
- Seismograph: A device that measures and records seismic movement.
- Seismometer: A precision sensor consisting of a mass suspended on a spring designed to detect and measure ground vibration.
Direct Instruction
What is seismology?
Seismology is the scientific study of seismic waves—waves of acoustic energy that ripple through the Earth. Just as microphones capture sound waves, seismographs measure seismic waves. These waves can originate from natural events like earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or extreme weather, or from human activities such as construction, explosions, or traffic (known as anthropogenic seismicity).
What are Seismographs?
A seismograph is a tool that detects and records ground movement. At its core is a seismometer—a highly sensitive sensor featuring a mass suspended on a spring. When the Earth shakes, the frame moves with it, while the mass remains steady due to inertia. This relative motion generates analog signals, which a digitizer converts into digital data—displayed as frequency and amplitude on a screen.
Seismographs pick up a wide range of vibrations, from distant earthquakes to nearby footsteps or passing cars. Because of their sensitivity, they’re often placed away from busy areas to reduce “noise” from human activity. Around the world, seismographs play critical roles: seismologists use them to locate earthquake epicenters, volcanologists monitor magma movement, and geologists explore for oil and gas deposits underground.
Understanding the Raspberry Shake: What is a Geophone?
The heart of the Raspberry Shake is its geophone—a specialized seismometer sensor that acts like a low-frequency “ground microphone.” It transforms physical vibrations into electrical signals. Inside, a coil suspended on springs surrounds a magnet. When the ground moves, the coil shifts through the magnetic field, producing small analog voltages—positive (+) or negative (-) depending on the direction of motion. The stronger the vibration, the greater the current.
The Raspberry Shake’s built-in digitizer then converts these analog signals into digital data, making them visible on your computer as real-time seismograms. See Figure 1 for a diagram of the geophone’s inner workings.
Figure 1: Cutted geophone and diagram of its parts.
How can we use our Shake?
The Raspberry Shake is a powerful tool for detecting and recording all types of ground vibrations, from natural phenomena like earthquakes to everyday anthropogenic noise such as traffic, fireworks, and even loud music. Its sensitive geophone ensures that even the smallest ground movements are detected.
Visualizing and Analyzing Data
The Raspberry Shake connects to visualization tools like:
- Dataview: An interactive global map showcasing live data streams from Raspberry Shakes around the world.
- Stationview: A browser-based tool to explore seismic data, visualize seismograms and spectrograms, and analyze frequency patterns.
Through these tools, students can view and interpret real-time seismic data, gaining insights into seismic activity while connecting to a global network of seismic stations.
Beyond Earthquakes: Innovative Uses
Your classroom’s Raspberry Shake can detect much more than just earthquakes. Its ability to detect all types of ground vibrations has led to a range of creative and unexpected applications
- Cheer-Meter: The University of Michigan created a “cheer-meter” to measure which team received the loudest applause during sports events, even developing equations to calculate “Cheer Magnitude.”
- Elephant Communication: Researchers used Raspberry Shakes to monitor ground vibrations caused by elephants communicating in the African Savannah.
- Rocket Launches: The Shake has tracked vibrations from rocket launches and explosions, showcasing its sensitivity and range of applications.
These examples highlight the range of possibilities for using seismic data in new and creative ways. Just imagine how your students could explore the vibrations around them and come up with their own applications!
Practice
Time: Time: 10-15 Minutes — Explore Raspberry Shake allow students to navigate the Raspberry Shake software ecosystem, focusing on StationView and DataView.
- StationView: Explore the interactive global map to understand how each station contributes to the worldwide seismic network and view real-time data streams.
- DataView: Use the browser to visualize live seismic data, analyze patterns, and apply filters.
Figure 2: From left to right. DataView and StationView visualizing a specific station in California.
Closing
Time: 5-10 minutes — Planning for Future Applications
Option 1: Creative Brainstorming
In small groups, ask students to brainstorm potential uses for the Raspberry Shake in their own communities or schools, beyond detecting earthquakes. Examples could include:
- Measuring vibrations from nearby traffic or construction.
- Developing a “cheer-meter” for sports events or assemblies.
- Investigating environmental or human activities causing ground motion
Have groups share their best ideas with the class to spark excitement and creativity.
Option 2:
Explain that their Shake will become part of a global seismic network for monitoring earthquakes. Challenge students to identify the best location within the school for deploying the Shake. They should consider factors such as noise levels, power access, and internet connectivity. Commonly recommended locations include basements or quiet storage areas, which minimize external vibrations.
Lesson 2: Understanding Earthquakes
Dig Deeper into How Earthquakes are Interpreted
Lesson Objectives
By the end of this lesson, students will:
- Understand the basics of seismic activity and how earthquake waves propagate through the Earth.
- Learn how seismologists determine the location and magnitude of earthquakes using seismic data.
- Explore the technology behind seismic data processing and how it helps identify and interpret seismic waveforms.
Classroom Prep
- Ensure your Raspberry Shake is ready and connected to the internet (setup instructions
available here ). - Provide students access to laptops or tablets with internet connectivity.
- Print student reading materials (optional).
Preparation Tip: Educators should complete the Shake setup guide and review the Classroom Tips page before teaching with the Shake.
Learning Context
Begin the lesson by informing students that they will assume the role of seismologists. They will learn about triangulation and practice locating earthquakes, gaining insight into the physics behind earthquake waves and their propagation.
Key Terms
- Body Waves: Earthquake waves that travel through the Earth’s interior.
- Surface Waves: Earthquake waves that travel along the Earth’s surface.
- P-Waves: Primary (pressure) waves, which are the fastest traveling earthquake waves.
- S-Waves: Secondary (shear) waves, which are slower than P-waves.
- Triangulation: A method using data from three or more seismographs to identify earthquake epicenters by analyzing arrival times of P and S waves at various stations.
- Frequency: The rate at which waves repeat from peak to peak.
Direct Instruction
What Are Waves:
To interpret seismic data effectively, it is essential to understand the different types of waves involved. Waves are energy transfers through a medium, such as air or water, and in this context, they refer to seismic waves generated by earthquakes. All waves share key characteristics:
Wavelength: The distance between consecutive peaks in a wave.
Amplitude: The height of the wave from peak to trough.
Frequency: The number of wave cycles that occur in one second, measured in hertz (Hz).
Types of Seismic Waves
Types of Seismic Waves:
When an earthquake occurs, releases energy in the form of seismic waves that travel outward from the epicenter. There are two primary categories of seismic waves: body waves and surface waves.
Body Waves: Body waves consist of P-waves and S-waves and travel through the Earth’s interior.
P-Waves (Primary Waves): P-waves, also known as compressional waves, are the fastest and first detected by seismographs as they push and pull material during propagation.
S-Waves (Secondary Waves): Also called shear waves are slower than P-waves and create side-to-side motion as they pass through materials.
Surface Waves: Travel along the Earth’s surface and arrive last. They move similarly to ocean waves and can cause the most destruction due to their amplitude and prolonged duration.
How Do Seismologists Interpret Seismic Data?
One of the most important tasks seismologists perform when a new earthquake is recorded is identifying its epicenter—the point on the Earth’s surface directly above where the earthquake originates.
To locate an earthquake’s epicenter, seismologists rely on a method called triangulation. By measuring the time difference between the arrival of P-waves and S-waves at three or more seismographs, they can calculate the distance from each station to the epicenter. The intersection of these distances pinpoints the earthquake’s location.
Educators and students can replicate this process using the Raspberry Shake’s EQ Locator web app, which simplifies the triangulation process by visualizing waveforms and calculating distances automatically.
Practice
Time: 20-25 Minutes — “Picking” P- and S-Waves
Demonstration:
- Show students how to use the EQ Locator web app.
- Use the tutorial video to guide the demonstration.
Student Activity:
- Have students navigate to the EQ Locator app and practice identifying P- and S-waves to triangulate earthquake epicenters.
Discussion:
- Ask students to reflect on their experiences. Was “picking” P- and S-waves intuitive or challenging? What was their success rate?
- Encourage students to share their thoughts on how seismologists use data to interpret seismic activity and identify earthquake locations.
Closing
Time: 5 minutes
Reflection:
Ask students to write a short reflection (2-5 sentences) about their experience using the EQ Locator. What did they find challenging? What did they learn?
Class Discussion:
Volunteers can share with the class one thing they found challenging, and why.
Lesson 3: Computer Science with the Shake
Understanding Computer Science with Your Shake!
Lesson Objective
Utilize Raspberry Shake to explore core Computer Science principles and establish a foundation for future coding projects involving the Shake.
Classroom Preparation
- Ensure that your Raspberry Shake is set up and connected to the internet.
- Install Node-RED on a computer and familiarize yourself with its functionalities (installation guide).
- Create a ShakeMeter in Node-RED by following this tutorial.
- Provide students with access to computers with internet connectivity.
- Pre-install Node-RED on student computers (optional, this can also be done during class).
- Print student reading materials (optional).
Preparation Tip: Educators should complete the Shake setup guide and review the Classroom Tips page before teaching with the Shake..
Learning Context/Anticipatory Set
To capture students’ interest, display a live “Shakemeter” on your screen (instructions available here). Inform students that this lesson will delve into the exciting intersection of computer science and programming with the Shake!
Key Terms
- Computer: A device that accepts data as input, processes it using programs, and outputs the processed data.
- Input: Commands or signals received by a computer from external sources.
- Output: The signal sent from the computer to another device or displayed on a screen.
- Process: The execution of a computer program.
- Analog: Pertaining to continuous variations or transmissions of a signal.
- Digital: Relating to discrete measurements or approximations that can be stored by a computer.
- Network: A collection of interconnected computers for sharing resources.
- Internet: A global information system connected by unique addresses based on the Internet Protocol (IP).
- UDP (User Datagram Protocol): A protocol for sending data over a network.
Direct Instruction
Basics of Computer Science – with Raspberry Shake:
To effectively utilize Raspberry Shake, students must grasp fundamental concepts of computer science. This lesson will cover these basics, laying the groundwork for future community projects. Let’s begin by addressing the question: “What is a computer?”
For an engaging introduction, consider sharing this informative video from Code.org.
In summary, computers receive input, process and store information, and then provide output.
It is crucial to recognize that all data handled by computers is digital, represented internally as ones and zeros. This binary data is encoded and decoded for human readability. In contrast, analog data represents continuous information through variable physical quantities. Digital data approximates analog data through a process called sampling—similar to connecting points along a curve in a connect-the-dots activity. While digital signals may not perfectly align with analog signals, they serve as effective approximations.
Understanding these concepts is essential when exploring Raspberry Shake’s components. The Raspberry Pi acts as the main “computer,” while the geophone sensor and digitizer are integral parts of the Raspberry Shake board. The geophone responds to analog signals by converting ground movement into continuous voltage information. This voltage is sampled by the digitizer, which transforms it from analog to digital format—this quantification process is central to recording seismic data.
Students will apply these concepts in a coded program designed to process and display UDP data from the Raspberry Shake!
Practice
Time: 20+ minutes — Start with Node-RED Connectivity
(If less than 20 minutes remain, consider closing this lesson and completing this activity in the next class.)
Each student should access a laptop or Raspberry Pi to run a Node-RED server, working in pairs if desired. Follow this tutorial to get started.
Closing
Time: 5-10 minutes — Written Reflection
Students will write a brief reflection (3-5 sentences) on their learning experiences and insights gained during the lesson. Consider prompting them with questions such as:
- Did today’s lesson change your perspective on computer science? If so, how?
- Did it increase your curiosity about coding? Why?
- Were there aspects that were difficult to understand? If so, what made them challenging?
Lesson 4: Programming a Shakemeter
Shake into the world of computer science with Node-Red!
Introduction
Raspberry Shake processes its own data and publishes it to its own public databases. However, it is also possible to configure the Shake to send a raw data stream from itself to any device your network can reach. Raspberry Shake uses User Datagram Protocol (UDP), a type of data transfer protocol, to send data to any list of IP addresses and ports that happen to be listening. Using this raw data stream you can create your own graphs, or set up alerts and triggers in Node-Red.
This means that your Shake could be physically located anywhere in a building (or using the proper networking setup, anywhere in the world) and you can still comfortably receive the data in Node-Red on your computer. Imagine the possibilities! An email alert being sent by your Raspberry Pi at home, because your Raspberry Shake at school detected some unusual vibrations… Or you could trigger a camera to snap and email you a picture whenever footsteps are detected in your room. The possibilities are endless!
What is Node-Red?
Node-Red is a visual, flow based programming language powered behind the scenes by JavaScript. It is an excellent way to introduce students to programming concepts and basic programs, unlike text based languages such as Python and JavaScript. It utilizes basic input, output, and function nodes to create “flows”, which can then be executed as programs. It is similar to the popular educational programming language Scratch, but much more applicable in real world situations that incorporate hardware and wiring.
The most simple way to run a Node-Red program is using a Raspberry Pi. It is already installed on the Pi, so there are no extra downloads or terminal commands necessary to run the program. If a Raspberry Pi is not available, you can still run and use Node-Red on any laptop or desktop.
You can access the browser-based interface by entering “localhost:1880” into the browser that is connected to the device running Node-Red. You should arrive at the Node-Red work space.
What is UDP and how is it used with Raspberry Shake?
When data is exchanged over the internet it is sent using a protocol, which is a way of organizing data so that both parties know what’s going on. Most of the time when you download a file or send an email it is sent using Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), which is rather strict.
UDP is much less strict, and is more like a one-way fire hose of data rather than an orderly sequence of letters with acknowledgements and replies. If UDP packets arrive out of order, have some missing, or even if the data inside is unreadable, there is no acknowledgement and no re-sending of lost or bad data.
Because it is very fast and requires no acknowledgments, UDP also has a feature called multicast. This allows a data stream to be sent to multiple destinations at the same time. Raspberry Shake makes this powerful feature easily accessible for users to configure and use.
Connecting your Raspberry Shake to Node-Red
To connect your Raspberry Shake to Node-Red:
- Connect to your Raspberry Shake’s web front end (rs.local) and go to settings
- From the Settings page, click on the UDP STREAMS tab
- Enter the IP address of the “listening” computer that is running Node-Red, and the port (default 8888)
Important:
- Both devices must be on the same local network
- Remember to click both the “plus icon” button and the “Save” button when adding the UDP stream
Making a Shakemeter in Node-Red
After connecting the Shake to Node-Red, we can start to use Node-Red to process and visualize the seismic data that is being streamed through the UDP port. The first thing we will do with the data is create a “Shakemeter” – a program that takes the real-time seismic data and converts it into a live visual measurement of the absolute amplitude and velocity at which the ground is shaking.
Code Implementation
Here’s the code for the Absolute Amplitude function:
acc = 0; num = 0; for(const p of msg.payload.packets) { acc += Math.abs(p); num++; } acc /= num; msg.payload = acc; return msg;
To implement this:
- Import the code block using the top right menu (Import -> Clipboard)
- Add the Dashboard “Gauge” Node after the smooth node
- Configure the Gauge node with a range from zero to at least 50000
- Create a Dashboard group and tab
- Deploy your flow
Access your dashboard at http://yourIPaddress:1880/ui
Now you can test your Shakemeter by creating vibrations and watching the gauge respond in real-time!
Step into the Shoes of Seismologists
Discover the fascinating world of seismology with hands-on activities and expert-designed educational tools. Whether you’re a teacher, student, or enthusiast, our resources bring Earth science concepts to life.
