On Friday, when discussing the earthquake and tsunami that had just struck Japan, I remember saying to students, "It looks like the death toll will be in the hundreds, which is horrible, but considering the size of the earthquake is pretty low." Well...as I write this,1 the official death toll is at 2,414 and expected to rise to perhaps as high as 10,000.2
We've been discussing the earthquake and tsunami in class, though I haven't done much "educationalizing" of the disaster at this point. So far my M.O. has been to show some videos or pictures, give news updates of what's going on, and then have time for students to ask questions or just talk about what's going on. At some level I feel like trying to craft organized lessons about subduction zones, Moment Magnitude scales, tsunami generation, or nuclear power generation would be taking advantage of the disaster.
I want students to know what's going on in Japan. I want students to understand the details. That's why I show the videos, why I spent a big chunk of time searching for video and images that seemed to capture the disaster. And the fact is, students want to know about the earthquake and tsunami and potential meltdowns at nuclear power plants. They want to know why tsunamis are so dangerous ("I don't get it, it's just water, right?"), what causes earthquakes ("I heard it was caused by the 'super moon.'3"), and how nuclear power plants work ("If there's an explosion at a nuclear power plan, how can it not be a nuclear explosion?").
The general public wants to know what's happening and why. Our students want to know what's happening and why. I want to know what's happening and why. However, I want student interest to drive our classroom learning about the disaster. I don't want to use the disaster to drag out a month of earthquake & tsunami lessons if the students aren't interested in learning more.4
I have been pleasantly surprised with the number of more "mainstream" media outlets doing some exemplary explaining about earthquakes, tsunamis, and nuclear reactors. I've especially been impressed with the time given to explain how nuclear reactors work and then what's going on at the Fukushima Nuclear Plants. Boing Boing did an excellent job describing how nuclear power plants work and NHK World explained simply yet thoroughly what was happening at Fukushima.
These are the times when it seems very clear to me that a little scientific literacy (or at least a healthy dose of skepticism) is an extremely useful skill. There are quite a few bits of misinformation out there, but there are also a lot of quality explanations of the science behind the disaster.
- at 10:10pm EDT, March 14, 2011 [↩]
- via http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Sendai_earthquake_and_tsunami#Casualties [↩]
- FYI, it wasn't. See here for a in-depth take down of the super moon myth [↩]
- Yes, I get following the state curriculum means I'm essentially forcing this same thing most of the school year with students. My especially guilty feeling on these topics most likely derives from the fact that I'd feel like I'd be taking advantage people's suffering simply as an educational hook. [↩]
I am an earth science teacher so I just have to take these disasters, as awful as they are, and run with them. While the interest is high I find a way to give crash courses in plate tectonics, subduction zones, magnitude scales, etc. We are learning about radiometric dating today in an integrated science class and I was able to make a connection between ancient tsunamis (<50,000 years) and the use of carbon dating of marine organisms found miles inland in sediment transported by the tsunami. There is no shame is using what happens to elevate and to educate.
Steve Whiteley´s last blog post ..3-14-11
I think the important thing with using a disaster as a learning opportunity is being sure the students are driving the learning process instead the teacher forcing "learning the disaster" down their throats. Teacher flexibility is key in these situations: What are the students confused about? What don't they know? What do they need to know to understand the situation? I could potentially see with certain classes taking several weeks to go over various details that interest students. I could also see spending only one or two class periods on them as well.
I certainly agree with using current events to "elevate and educate." There's a definite "student interest hook" with disasters, and I'm not suggesting we ignore that. I just don't want to continue dragging students along with that hook long after they're ready to let go.
[...] [...]
I'm just a young student in 8th grade, but I'm bright. I came across one of your 'articles' about science being skeptism and curiosty. Loved it how it had the big picture nobody else seems to understand or see. You are doing amazing work and I saw this now and remembering this my teacher in 6th grade didn't take advantage of it but kept us aware for a long time and explained the power and factors of a tsunami hitting Japan overall. I found your article helpful and interseting. I use your blog weekly for my science and social studies current events because your writing is well thought out, but does have complex ideas in them.
I got this site from my friend whoo informed
me on the topic of this web site and at the
moment this time I aam browsing this web site and reading very informative
articles at this time.
temas para tcc direito´s last blog post ..temas para tcc direito
You need to be a part of a contest for one of the greatest blogs on the net.
I am going to highly recommend this web site!
feshop-acc.ru forum´s last blog post ..feshop-acc.ru forum