Over the past several years, on October 13th, our school observed the International Day of Natural Disaster Risk Reduction. We started implementing this practice four years ago when Croatia was hit by numerous natural disasters such as droughts, floods and numerous very strong earthquakes.
In the Croatian education system, students are introduced to the concept of natural disasters for the first time during Geography lessons in the 5th grade (age 11). As part of the national curriculum, students learn about earthquakes and volcanoes, gaining an understanding of their origins and learning appropriate safety protocols in the event of an earthquake. Through these geography classes, students acquire essential geographical knowledge about natural phenomena and how to respond effectively in times of crisis.
When we faced natural disasters, we saw that neither the students, nor us teachers, nor their parents and the environment, were prepared for them.
Until that point, I paid little attention to this problem. This is why I decided to set aside 3 Geography lessons (3×45′) to help students develop important life skills – how to protect themselves, but also how to prevent natural disasters with small steps and hence reduce damage from natural disasters.
The implementation of the scenario Using arts to reconstruct a volcanic eruption (IS-IT-04) enriched these lessons, introduced the students to the volcano Vesuvius, which is located in neighbouring Italy, and motivated them to learn about other volcanoes not only in Italy, but in other countries.
I used this scenario with my 5th grade students – there are three 5th grades in our school, which is a total of 63 students. In the week of processing these teaching contents, as has been the practice every year until now, the Civil Protection of the City of Osijek organised numerous educational workshops, lectures and games. This is how we marked the week of reducing the risk of natural disasters.
Stages of Implementation
- Introductory part
In the introductory part, I wanted primarily to determine what the students know about natural disasters, so that I could later adapt their prior knowledge to the activities that I had planned to carry out.
Students answered questions in the Mentimeter digital tool to get feedback on their prior knowledge:
- What is the first thing you think of when you hear the term “natural disaster”?
- List at least three natural disasters!
- Do you know how to behave in the event of a natural disaster?
Let’s list them!
Since in the first activity the students were not able to name at least three natural disasters, they researched the answer in pairs and presented them graphically.
Consequences
Students tested their knowledge of natural disasters in the Wordwall digital tool.
2. Main part
According to the Croatian National Curriculum for teaching Geography in the 5th grade, students learn the characteristics of volcanoes and earthquakes, so in the main part of this implementation we learned about these two natural disasters.
Let’s take a look at the volcano
Students got to know the parts of a volcano with a volcano model. They observed the interior of the volcano and paid special attention to the layers of the volcano and tried to count how many times this imaginary volcano has erupted so far.
We are drawing a volcano
Students drew a volcano and marked and named the following on it: crater, channel, magma hearth, lava, eruption.
Where are they located?
Students found the nearest volcanoes in Italy on the map.
Vesuvius
With the help of the map of Vesuvius and the shown isohypses, students in groups created a 3D model of Vesuvius in three different ways.
Let’s erupt!
According to the instructions, the students caused an eruption on one of the models.
Video of eruptions: //www.canva.com/design/DAGCGX3Jrxg/3lS0XmnLcqzrcy0sdrFXTA/edit?utm_content=DAGCGX3Jrxg&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton
Consequences
After an introductory section on earthquakes, students explored photos on Europeana that show the effects of earthquakes. They attached the found photos to the prepared Padlet board with information about the earthquake (time and place).
In Croatia
Students analyzed the thematic map of earthquake areas in Croatia and detected the most risky areas.
How to prepare?
Students watched an educational video about actions during an earthquake. After that, with the help of an educational brochure created by the Civil Protection in Croatia, they drew a mind map in which they had to answer several questions:
- What should we do and properly prepare for an earthquake?
- What should be in the emergency bag?
- What to do during an earthquake?
- What to do after an earthquake?
- Phone numbers that we must not forget!
3. Final part
The evaluation of these lessons was carried out in a slightly different way. On the occasion of the International Disaster Risk Reduction Day, members of Civil Protection visited us, and the students presented what they had learned about natural disasters.
Let’s show what we know
During the visit of the members of Civil Protection to our school, students welcomed them and presented their knowledge about earthquakes and volcanoes.
Check with the game
Members of Civil Protection brought the students a social game in which they tested their knowledge about natural disasters in a creative way.
Learning outcomes
Learning outcomes
During these Geography lessons, by applying this learning scenario and using Europeana, the students developed numerous skills in addition to the most important ones in the Geography lesson, namely geographical and cartographic skills. In addition, during these lessons, I tried to connect these teaching contents in a cross-curriculum approach combining history, mathematics, physics and chemistry.
During these lessons and through the implementation of this scenario, the students:
- defined the concept of natural disasters
- differentiated between natural disasters and their consequences
- found the largest volcanoes on the map
- spotted and named the parts of the volcano
- established the concept of isohypses and the representation of relief on geographical maps
- described the causes and consequences of earthquakes
- described procedures and behavior during an earthquake
- on the thematic map, they observed seismically critical areas in Croatia
- developed creativity by making volcanoes
- developed social and communication skills by working in pairs
- developed critical thinking
- developed digital skills using different digital tools
Outcomes for the educator
For me as a teacher, Europeana is a great source of materials that facilitate the preparation and implementation of the teaching process, develop my creativity and encourage my enthusiasm for better and higher quality preparation and implementation of geography lessons, as well as additional lessons and all extracurricular activities. Very often on Europeana I also find ideas for the implementation of numerous projects and collaborations. With this scenario, I was able to process all of the above and was very satisfied with the final result, with which the students deepened their skills and knowledge.
Throughout these activities the students were able to apply all of the above in other subjects, and this is not only a benefit for me, but for their entire learning.
For me as a teacher, it is a pleasure to watch students progress, develop their creativity and develop their life skills. This is a benefit for me as a teacher, but also for all of us.
As a Geography teacher, I spread information about Europeana and its possibilities, I recommend it to teachers because everyone will find something for their subject on it. It not only increases the efficiency of the teacher, but also encourages him to professional growth and development.
Link to the learning scenario implemented: Using arts to reconstruct a volcanic eruption (LS-IT-04) – Teaching With Europeana (eun.org)
Do you want to discover more stories of implementation? Click here. (If it is a SoI)
CC BY 4.0: the featured image used to illustrate this article has been found on Europeana and has been provided by the Wellcome Collection.
