Keeping Science Current in the Classroom

Using current events in the classroom to drive home the classroom content aids the teacher in making science real for students. A couple of examples of this are the earthquake in Haiti in January and the volcanic eruption in Iceland in March.

When news of the Haiti earthquake spread I immediately pulled up a map of the Earth’s tectonic plates and pointed out Haiti then asked students why an earthquake would have occurred there. After allowing the students to discuss in their groups for a couple of minutes many were able to point out the fact that there is a fault line running through the country leading to the discussion of plate movement and how earthquakes occur. We then examined some of the photographs from Haiti paying particular attention to the structures of the buildings and how they were stacked on top of one another and did not appear very sturdy at all. Our school started a Haiti relief effort by collecting supplies to be delivered for displaced families on the island. That discussion and lesson did take the entire class period, but when a teachable moment presents itself, particularly one with heavy media coverage, then you go with it.

Another moment was in March when a fissure eruption opened up on Iceland. Again a map of plate tectonics graced my classroom and again discussion ensued. We discussed divergent plate boundaries and seafloor spreading. I showed them video clips and photographs of the volcano and asked them to imagine eruptions just like this one only on an unimaginable scale. We discussed the Siberian Trap eruptions from about 50 million years ago which lasted for about one million years and how devastating something like that can be to life on Earth, so devastating in fact that it wiped out 90 percent of all life on the planet at that time. Using this unique type of eruption allowed an opportunity to discuss how new crust is created as plates move away from each other.

Then I asked the students if there was a correlation between the Haiti earthquake and the Iceland volcano. Since they both lie on the edges of the North American plate, could movement at a fault zone in Haiti create the separation of plates at a fault zone in Iceland? From what we could determine, since the plates are giant solid slabs of rock, that movement at one end of the plate would cause movement at the other end of the plate.

Current events can be an invaluable resource as it allows the students to step outside of the vacuum of the classroom and experience science at a real-world level.