The theme over the past two weeks of the Sustainable Development module has been Natural Disasters. A natural disaster is defined as “a sudden, calamitous event that seriously disrupts the functioning of a community or society and causes human, material, and economic or environmental losses that exceed the community’s or society’s ability to cope using its own resources. Although often cause by nature, disasters can have human origins” (ifrc.org, 2017). I think it is essential that children are aware of what is going on in the world around them but the fundamental question is ‘how much do we let them know?’.
Through the two inputs that I participated in, I was able to develop my understanding of the impact that humans can have on natural disasters and the role of the government and various charities and aid groups before, during and after a natural disaster occurs.
In the first input we explored economics, equality and social justice when it comes to natural disasters. In this workshop we compared two case studies of earthquakes that had hit Japan and Haiti and develop our understanding of the political involvement in these disasters. Despite already knowing that Japan was a more developed country than Haiti, I was surprised to find out that the earthquake recorded in Japan
was 9.0 on the Richter Scale in comparison to the lower 7.0 magnitude recorded in Haiti as the disaster left Haiti in a much worse state than Japan. This was due to the significantly higher level of preparation that was put in place in Japan through building much stronger buildings that have a higher chance of remaining intact and keeping people up to date through the medium of the news and social media. Japan also received considerably more media attention and aid than Haiti as they are allied with many more countries. This therefore left Haiti to rely heavily on charities and volunteers as they were so badly prepared in coping with a disaster of this magnitude as well as being the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Prior to reading these case studies I had always believed that the Haiti earthquake had been of a higher magnitude however, by reviewing all of the information provided on graphs and charts I was able to develop my critical analysis skills.
During this first workshop we were provided with various pictures of disasters on our tables. We discussed how we might approach the topic of teaching natural disasters to young children. It is extremely important when teaching children about disasters that we are sensitive and aware of the materials that we display to children. We should make our main focus the preventative measures, the disaster and the recovery processes involved during a disaster rather than focusing on the death toll and mass destruction which could upset children. Therefore it is advisable to cover the topic of Natural Disasters with second level pupils as younger ones may find it distressing. It may also be useful to invite guest speakers from charities or members from the government to speak to the class in order for children to learn more about the aid provided to countries that experience such disasters and pose their own questions to those who work directly in the field.
In the second workshop we participated in various different activities that linked to natural disasters. These included creating our own fossils using clay and dinosaur moulds and creating a volcanic eruption using baking soda, washing-up liquid, food colouring and vinegar. I particularly enjoyed the volcanic eruption experiment and believe that it could be easily replicated with a second-level class to develop their investigative and equity skills.
The topic of Natural Disasters can also be linked to other curricular areas. For example, we could help children to understand how a victim of a disaster may feel by using some of the various drama conventions that we have learned and allowing the child to take on the role of the victim. Subsequently, children could take the role of a member of the emergency services or a charity worker being interviewed by a news reporter to allow them to look at the disaster from their perspective.
I can describe the physical process of a natural disaster and discuss its impact on people and the landscape. SOC 2-07b
References
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies – Available at: www.ifrc.org [Accessed 5th November 2017].
Scottish Government (2017). Curriculum for Excellence: Social Subjects. Available at: https://www.education.gov.scot/Documents/social-studies-eo.pdf [Accessed 5th November 2017].
