It seems as though natural disasters are occurring non-stop as of late. Between flooding in Mississippi, tornadoes from Minnesota to Alabama, terrible snow storms in the Northeast, the Grimsvotn volcano erupting in Iceland, as well as volcanoes in Hawaii and Ecuador, and hurricane season approaching, our students are witnessing a spring season that is more naturally active than I can remember. They need to understand that this is the essence of nature, but they also need to understand why these events occur, however. Through careful analysis of real world events and the data that go along with them, our students can become much more active participants and intellectuals in the science realm, equipping themselves to understand the world around them and remaining calm when natural disasters occur, knowing that nature works in cycles and we will reach a better stretch soon.
If I were a teacher of Earth Sciences, I would focus on these natural disaster events, making science content learned in class authentic to students. Modern day families seem to be more wide spread across the nation, meaning that events that occur far from our school in Corning, NY could easily be relevant to students who have family in the South, for example. This could potentially bring interesting viewpoints into the classroom like, "my uncle was in that hurricane..." or "my relatives had to move out of there house because of the flooding in Mississippi" and so on. These experiences could be shared with other classes as well, showing students that we need to be aware of events that occur around the globe, particularly those that occur within our nation.
Additionally, I would collaborate with a social sciences teacher in my school to incorporate a cross-curricular natural disasters unit whereby students learn the science behind these events through data collection and an inquiry-based approach, and dive into learning about community organizations and relief efforts in the social sciences class. We could even incorporate a problem-based learning experience that requires students to orchestrate a plan for hurricane/tornado/flood/snow storm, etc relief, including the science behind the event and coming up with "eye witness" accounts as if they were a part of it. This could be a great experience and a wonderful chance to pull in multiple curricula.
