Snack Tectonics

For my model I used food to help model plate tectonics. In this lab frosting is the asthenosphere, fruit roll-ups are oceanic crust, and graham crackers represented continental crust. First the students spread out the frosting so it is about 1cm thick. Then they place the fruit roll-ups next to each other, push down slightly and pull them apart slowly. This models divergent boundaries and sea floor spreading.

Next the students placed one of the graham cracker squares next to one of the fruit roll-ups and gently pushed it. The graham cracker slides over the fruit roll-up and this models subduction. This is one of the convergent models demonstrated.

The next convergent boundary involves taking the two graham crackers and dipping one side in water for a few seconds. They then place them next to each other (wet side facing each other) and gently push them together forming mountains.

 Finally the students take new graham crackers and place them next to each other and slide them past each other repeatedly to represent transform boundaries and the formation of earthquakes.

This is a crowd pleasing lesson. I have done this lesson now with several grade levels from 2nd all the way up to 8th. This time around I was working with 5th graders.The only real problem occurs if the frosting is not spread out enough or if they do not pull the fruit rollups apart slow enough. The students were also suppose to draw a cross section of each model. This proved difficult for them. Since I am only subbing at the moment and do not have my own class I had to borrow a class. This is something I know I would have to work on with my students throughout the year. Overall the lesson went well!

Tornadoes, Earthquakes and Tsunamis Oh My!

2011 has been a particularly hard year already as far as natural disasters are concerned. A devastating earthquake that also caused a tsunami in Japan happened on March 11. In April an estimated 173 tornadoes ravaged Alabama and other southern states, causing billions of dollars in damage and hundreds of fatalities. More devastating tornadoes have occurred in Joplin, Missouri, on May 22 which is one of the deadliest tornadoes in history and the beginning of June Springfield, Massachusetts was also hit hard by tornadoes. Hurricane season began June 1 and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are predicting an above normal Atlantic season with 12 to 18 named storms, 6 to 10 of those becoming hurricanes and 3 to 6 of those becoming major hurricane, category 3 or higher. (NOAA, 2011). In recent years there have also been a multitude of disasters which many can still recall such as Hurricane Katrina, the 2004 earthquake in Sumatra that caused a tsunami that spread over 14 countries and killed 230,000 people and displaced 1.4 million more (Discovery Communications, LLC., 2011). There was also the earthquake in Haiti that was very destructive due to the lack of building codes. Other infamous disasters such as the eruptions of volcanoes of Mount Vesuvius and Mount St. Helens may have happened decades or centuries ago, but are still studied today.

If one has not experienced a natural disaster first hand, they may have no ideal the true impact is has on people and the surrounding community. How do we help our students to become scientifically literate and compassionate citizens through the study of current and past natural disasters. Well if any students had first hand experience I would want them to share their recollection of the disaster. When I lived in Texas there many students that relocated there after Hurricane Katrina, this would have provided an open forum on hurricanes. Our school was also shut down for 2 days when it was thought that Hurricane Ike was going to hit, Ike took a turn and ended up hitting Galveston and Houston, Texas instead. I was very close to Houston in Huntsville during that time and we were hit by strong winds and lost power. On my drive back to Corpus I say some heavy damage in Houston. When disasters hit we need to share news feeds with our students as well as pictures and videos of the destruction to help the students understand what damage is actually done. I think it would be interesting for students to study the most destructive disasters as far as earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanoes, tsunamis, tornadoes, floods, droughts, and blizzards and them compare them to each other. Since so many of these disasters take place far away I think it is difficult for students to understand their magnitude.

Another way to get students involved is find ways to donate to the areas in need. I remember when I was in school and Hurricanes Andrew and Hugo we collected and sent school supplies to Florida. Students need to be aware of how severe the destruction that occurs and often the people lose everything. There are many school clubs that would likely be involved in humanitarian aide, we need to encourage our students to become compassionate citizens and helps those in need!

Discovery Communications, LLC. (2011). Top 10 natural disasters. Retrieved from http://science.discovery.com/top-ten/2009/natural-disasters/natural-disasters.html

NOAA. (2011). NOAA hurricane outlook indicates an above-normal Atlantic season. Retrieved from  http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2011/20110519_atlantichurricaneoutlook.html\





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