Determining Shallow Earth Structure
Summary
This activity is intended to extend students' learning of fundamental physics concepts (e.g. reflection, refraction and transmission of energy) through a real-world application.
Learning Goals
Students will be able to:
- Identify the following elements of a seismic experiment: Angle of reflection, Angle of refraction, Headwave, Direct wave, Normal, Critical angle, Snell's Law
- Determine the depth of bedrock by analyzing a simple seismic section.
Context for Use
This activity is intended as a Extend Phase activity to provide students with a real-world application for the concepts of waves. This should follow an Explore/Explain phases activity, such as the traditional light lab that explains concepts included in this lab such as reflection, refraction and transmission of energy.