Today we introduced to the topic of disasters. We were shown some videos of the worst disasters that have happened and discussed the sensitivity of such things. As primary teachers we have to take into consideration the childrens age and background when deciding what to teach and how much depth to go into.

We discussed the preparing, responding and recovering stages that countries affected by disasters take. We discussed different scenarios of different people across the world and what they would feel like and do. I felt this was a very appropriate task as it allowed me to think of other peoples perspectives.

We tried many different experiments in Andrew’s workshops to do with disasters:

• Testing rocks with acid – Not for children – acid is dangerous

• Effects of heating and cooling rocks –  crystallising on slides, easy and fun to do in class
• Baking soda and vinegar volcano – messy but appropriate for primary children
• Fossils – fun for children, could lead into a topic of prehistoric times  or dinosaurs.
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  All of the above, apart from the one involving acid would be great experiments to do in class. Some skills gained through science I have found are:

  • be open to new ideas and linking and applying learning
  • think creatively and critically
  • develop skills of reasoning to provide explanations and evaluations supported by evidence or justifications
  • make predictions, generalisations and deductions
  • draw conclusions based on reliable scientific evidence.

The following week each group in the class was given a different disaster and asked to make a presentation on this, my group was given tsunamis. The presentation on disasters is a great classroom activity, it promotes team work as well as individual, presentation skills, public talking, research skills. I feel all these skills were gained during this presentation and that it was very successful. Learning about disasters through your peers is also a fun way to learn.