Ms. Placer, a middle grades science teacher, and Mr. Orley, a middle grades social studies teacher, are working together to plan a lesson to help students understand the causes and effects of the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia, the 2008 earthquake in China, and the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. The essential/unit question from the perspective of the science teacher is, "What do earthquakes tell us about what is happening inside the earth and on the surface?" The social studies teacher wants students to consider: "How do culture, politics, and geography affect peoples lives?"
The teachers stimulate students' interest by showing them video from a film called "The Violent Earth," containing striking images of the Indonesian Tsunami and other earthquakes, hurricanes, and volcanoes.
Before class begins, Ms. Placer installs the free Android apps "3D Earthquakes" and Google Earth on the classroom tablets. In science class, Ms. Placer brainstorms with students asking them what happens during earthquakes or the locations of earthquakes they have heard about. The students use Google Earth to locate the sites of the earthquakes on their tablets. The voice search feature is very helpful, as more of the students can say "Port-au-Prince, Haiti" than can spell it. She asks them if they see any patterns in the location of these earthquakes. Ms. Placer then asks the students to turn to the 3D Earthquake app. They begin by looking at the most powerful earthquakes in the last century. Then, as they decrease the required strength of the earthquakes in the apps search function, they begin to see lines forming. For example, earthquakes encircle the entire Pacific Ocean!
The students are quick to point out the lines but have few ideas about what they mean. After discussing volcanoes, Ms. Placer asks half of the students to use the Google Earth app to locate as many volcanoes as possible and the other half to locate mountain ranges on every continent. Once again the voice search feature is a tremendous help. As they find these features, students mark them on a shared map of the world using Google Earth's collaborative mapping tools. Each student can annotate the same map from their own tablet marking each volcano with a pin and each mountain range with a line. When they are finished they compare their map of volcanoes and mountain ranges with that of the world's earthquakes in 3D EarthQuake and notice the similarities in the locations. Ms. Placer uses this discovery as an opportunity to explore the theory of plate tectonics.
On the classroom site in Edmodo, she has created an index to animations and videos explaining the history of plate tectonics and the mechanisms of the three primary boundary types. She has organized the list so that students of varying reading and comprehension skill can easily identify resources at their level. In addition, she creates a quiz for the students to take to on the Edmodo app to become "Plate Certified" meaning that they are ready to continue on with the unit. For those students who don't pass the quiz on the first attempt, she provides a list of links to resources indexed by quiz question number so that they can quickly fill in the gaps.
In social studies class, Mr. Orley wants students to understand the effects that geography has on people's lives. Groups of students choose Haiti, China, or Indonesia and use their laptops to do Internet research on the climate, the culture, and the economies of the regions affected by the earthquakes. As a comparison, one group also researches the effects of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. They document what happened to the region as a result of the earthquake and the efforts to help those affected. Each group prepares a presentation on their region using Prezi, a presentation tool. Their presentations include maps, photos, videos of the devastation, and statistics. The students compare each of the disasters in an effort to understand how they were different and how economic conditions and politics played a role in the effects of the disaster and recovery afterward.
As a summative assessment, students choose an area in China, Haiti, or Indonesia that was affected by an earthquake. Based on their understanding of the climate, culture, geography, economy, and politics of this reason and their knowledge of earthquakes, they will work together to plan a new dwelling for a family who lost their home. They will determine the materials and construction methods that should be used and the best location for the new home. They will develop an illustrated, high quality presentation using Prezi that describes the home and its location and provides sound logic for the choices that they have made.
The teachers have developed a rubric to assesses students on their understanding of plate tectonics, the location and nature of the damage caused by the earthquakes, the geography of the region and the culture of the people living there. In order to get authentic feedback on their work, student presentations will be reviewed by the staff of NGOs working in the areas affected by these earthquakes or individuals who are natives of these countries. Students will be given a copy of the rubric prior to beginning work on the project so that they will understand how they will be assessed.