Natural Disasters
Is our world coming to an end, or do we just forget the severity of the natural disasters of the
Past? It seems that we are having more severe tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanic
eruptions and tsunamis. Just this year alone we have had 15 earthquakes, volcanoes 3, flood 9,
hurricane/tornadoes 17 in the world.
I have made it a habit to bring in a hang on the walls articles about the more devastating disasters,
like the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and Haiti’s. I also use You Tube to watch information
on the disasters, including the tornadoes in the southern states. As we watch and read about
these natural disasters we discuss as a class the devastation and what they residents of those areas
are facing.
I discuss with the students what we can do to help these individuals. We have started food
drives, donations of clothing, bedding, house hold supplies and more. We encourage our students
to donate what they can and to encourage others outside of the school to donate too. We feel that
this builds leadership in our students. It is the students that collected the donations and deliver
them to the correct locations like the Red Cross and other organizational groups.
References
12 May 2011, Category :"2011 Natural Disasters "
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:2011_natural_disasters
Barbara,
ReplyDeleteYour initial question is great. There has certainly been an apparent influx of natural disasters occuring this spring, but like you stated, is there a real increase, or have we neglected the events of the past? Is the media driving coverage of these natural disasters home more than ever? Making your students aware of these events is wonderful as many of them are quite disconnected from the real world at times. I even had students who gave me a "huh?" look when I mentioned the tsunami that hit Japan. Neglect for real world news on part of our students is just awful sometimes. The incorporation of relief efforts is definitely something that my school lacks in and I plan to get moving with it! I recently incorporated a school-wide recycling program because the school did not have one. I was shocked to find this when I came to this school just two years ago!
Jordan
Barbara,
ReplyDeleteI don't think that the world is coming to an end, but there is an increase in the number of natural disasters; I think that the damage is more severe in part because of the increase in population and technology - there is simply more damage that can be done.
It is nice to see all of the efforts taking place in your school - have you seen an increase in student initiative when a disaster takes place now? Amy
Barbara-
ReplyDeleteThere sure is a lot of them. I tell my students that when I was their age we never had so many natural disasters. They've become so common that students think that it is normal to have this many tornadoes or hurricanes- this can of course be a great segue into global warming.
mj
I love the idea of bringing in articles and pictures for kids to see on an everyday basis. I am glad that you posted those stats about the disasters we have had so far this year. It was an eye opener to me.
ReplyDeleteGreat Post
C. Gray