Module IV

Essential Question: How do stories of cataclysmic events help inform students about geosciences and cultures?

Definition of student:

-a learned person

-a learner who is enrolled in an educational institution

-one who is devoted to learning

-one who attends school

-one who studies or examines in any manner

Sri Lanka 2004

There are several possible ways to look at answering this question.

When the students I work with heard about the recent earthquake in Haiti, some were motivated to find out where Haiti was located. Others were influenced by their parents to become active in various groups; e.g. girl and boy scouts, church groups, etc., in having bake sales, making mittens to sell, or other fundraising activities to raise money to send to the survivors. Probably 80% of the students in my school come from middle income families who have educated their children about natural disasters as they become news. Even in our community where avalanches, tsunamis, earthquakes and flooding can effect anyone on any given day, the children in my school are pretty much protected from the devastation of any occurring in our area, with the exception being if one of their family members is killed by an avalanche while on an outing in the mountains. The volcanoes are close enough that they can drop ash, but chances are, like in the case of one of the most recent Redoubt explosions, not so much ash that they would be greatly impacted. Earthquakes happen all of the time in our area. We could have a large one like in 1964, but the valley would probably not be devastated by a tsunami and damage from the quake would probably be fairly isolated to individual situations. Certainly, the coastline in the Knik Arm would be susceptible to more damage.

(In searching for other teaching aides to help me, I found an interactive website that I can use with my students as a visual teaching assistant to help them to better understand the earth's natural disasters.) http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment//natural-disasters/avalanche-interactive/

If a student were attending school at Sabaragamuwa Affiliated University College in Sri Lanka during the Indian Ocean earthquake that triggered the deadly tsunami, they would have a huge learning curve about the effects of geoscience related phenomenon such as continental plate movement and possible occurrences. That student would be living with the culture to see first hand devastation and death. If they had not lost anything personally, they would be changed forever after being a witness of such great loss. They would feel the emotions related to being with people who had lost someone or something. They would be able to look at the big picture and realize that it could happen all over again, anytime, any day.

In Alaska Native cultures, as well as many, many others, oral histories were told to the continue the knowledge that the elders had gained by all their years and experiences. They included all details that were needed to share about the past when they found a better way to do something and better ways to think about something. In the case of the villagers who settled on river banks, their stories would tell about the years or times that the floods came and what they need to stay safe. Their story would include the things that they learned about flooding cycles, weather predictors and ways of surviving the disaster. Alaska Native cultures who lived in the interior even along rivers would pass on stories about forest fires that were started by lightning which were devastating to their families existence. They would teach their young about watching for weather patterns during low rainfall seasons and how to be cautious if the conditions are just right for a disaster to happen. Lastly, Alaska Native cultures who lived along the coastal mountainous regions would have oral stories that told of times when their people were lost in avalanches or killed due to volcanic eruptions. They, too, would have histories to pass on the students, their children, which would teach them how to be aware of the environment around them, as well as, ways that were more safe to use if those things occurred to them individually.

In the general education system of the United States, stories about a cataclysmic event can help students to develop an interest in the geosciences behind the event. The media gives them some idea of who the peoples are that were affected. Depending on the students level of awareness, they may become apathetic to the situation and want to reach out to the community whose world has been changed. They can then be empowered to do what they can to make a difference. When they become involved, a natural segway is formed for them to establish a knowledge base about the culture and the nature that surrounds that culture.