1,2,1,1,4,5,6,7,10,11,- 1University of Edinburgh, School of GeoSciences, Edinburgh, United Kingdom of Great Britain – England, Scotland, Wales (iris.vanzelst@ed.ac.uk)
- 2University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, United Kingdom of Great Britain – England, Scotland, Wales
- 3University of Durham, Durham, United Kingdom of Great Britain – England, Scotland, Wales
- 4Utrecht University, The Netherlands
- 5Roma Tre University, Italy
- 6GFZ, Germany
- 7University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom of Great Britain – England, Scotland, Wales
- 8The Silly Scientist, The Netherlands
- 9Royal Astronomical Society, United Kingdom of Great Britain – England, Scotland, Wales
- 10University of Lyon, France
- 11Undertone Design, Switzerland
- 12Melbourne Museum / Monash University, Australia
The number of geophysics students is rapidly declining across Europe, despite the great demand for geophysicists. Many students are interested in quantitative sciences with Earth science applications, but they are often not aware of geophysics as a career option as it is not typically taught in school (Jenkins et al., 2024). Furthermore, the spread of misinformation, conspiracy theories, and anti-scientific movements across Europe have highlighted the need for scientific literacy (Siarova et al., 2019 European Parliament). Now more than ever, there is a need to introduce the general public to the basics of the scientific method and what it means to do research, particularly in geosciences (EGU Barcelona Manifesto for the Teaching of Geosciences, 2023).
We are therefore developing materials for Science Storytellers: scientists who go into their community to engage with students and the general public. Our curiosity-driven teaching materials are based around well-known tales and incorporate elements of narrative, performance, and play. Through this original framework, we provide scientists and teachers with the tools to effectively engage students.
This year, we focus on the classic tale of “The House At Pooh Corner” by A. A. Milne (1928). In this novel, Eeyore is relieved that there has not been an earthquake lately. The book takes place in Sussex (UK), where earthquakes are not typical. Why then, is Eeyore talking about them? We present the science case behind this story in the General Seismology session (SM1.1) and here we show how we developed this research into teaching and outreach material. We developed a set of different questions around the research-project, which naturally arise from the Winnie-the-Pooh premise to encourage children to follow their own curiosity to discover why Eeyore is worried about earthquakes.
With this abstract, we seek feedback from fellow science communicators and teachers and invite everyone along to the try-out of the corresponding "The Science Storyteller" theatre show, which will make its debut on the Friday afternoon of EGU in a dedicated splinter meeting. We hope to reach even more young people and curious minds through this interactive, musical journey through the science story behind Winnie-the-Pooh.
References
Jenkins, J., Gilligan, A., & Bie, L. (2024). Who wants to be a geophysicist?. Astronomy & Geophysics, 65(5).
Siarova, H., Sternadel, D., & Szőnyi, E. (2019). Research for CULT committee–Science and scientific literacy as an educational challenge.
How to cite: van Zelst, I., Lythgoe, K., Gilligan, A., Jenkins, J., Kemp, M., Smith, J. L., Curtis, A., Kotowski, A., Funiciello, F., Erdős, Z., Grima, A. G., Peskens, R., Offer, L., Arnould, M., Crameri, F., Handley, H., and Barosch, J.: The Science Storyteller: Curiosity-driven learning based on narrative, performance, and play to improve geophysical science literacy, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-11769, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-11769, 2026.
