Millions of people around the globe have been thunderstruck and horrified by the devastating earthquake, tsunami, and resulting nuclear crisis that have unfolded in Japan in recent weeks. Stark images of the utter destruction left in the tsunami’s wake replay continuously on news reports, leaving viewers wondering how the affected communities can possibly rebuild after such a tragedy. Where does one start? The sheer scope of the destruction seems overwhelming.
Many older students will likely remember Hurricane Katrina, the deadly hurricane that ripped through the American Gulf Coast in 2005, causing over $81 billion dollars in damage and killing over 1,800 people. Katrina ranks as the most costly natural disaster in American history, and one from which the Gulf States are still struggling to recover. Depending on their ages, students may react to the news of disasters such as the earthquake in Japan and Hurricane Katrina in different ways. Younger students look for reassurance of their own personal safety and that of their families, while older students want to understand how such catastrophes occur, what can be done to prevent them, and how they can help the affected communities.
This week’s Joann’s Picks column on the Gateway’s home page is featuring all-new resources for all ages on disaster relief and emergency management in the wake of a natural disaster. Peggy’s Corner examines additional disaster resources including how to check on kids’ mental health after a disaster, researching natural disasters, and federal disaster relief. Both columns stress the value of presenting topics throughout the disciplines. Additional resources on the topic are presented and discussed on the Gateway’s Facebook and Twitter pages. Be sure to visit those pages regularly.
Discussions continue on last week’s theme of Constellations on both pages. All of the weekly Gateway columns and resource selections are archived on the following blog site: http://thegatewayto21stcenturyskills.blogspot.com/.
Resources covered in this week’s columns include:
Be Disaster Safe: Emergency Management
Subjects: Health, Safety, Government
Grade: 3-5
In this lesson, students learn that communities have systems in place and that agencies cooperate to take care of the community’s needs during emergencies and disasters. This lesson was produced by the American Red Cross, the nation’s premier emergency response organization since 1881. In addition to providing international and national emergency relief services, the Red Cross also offers safety information resources for parents, teachers, and students.
Dealing with Disasters
Subjects: Geography, Earth science, Civics
Grade: 6-8
In this lesson, students will study potential natural hazards in their community, report on local hazards in small groups, and discuss community preparation and response for one or more of these forces of nature. This lesson is a product of National Geographic Xpeditions, part of the National Geographic Society. The site offers all kinds of lesson plans, daily global news, and interactive games that focus on geography and foreign cultures. This lesson is aligned to U.S. national geography standards.
Disaster Relief – Power, Generosity and Leadership
Subjects: Economics, Civics, Character Education
Grade 9-12
Students will research problems caused by a natural disaster and cite examples of aid provided in an effort to help those devastated populations. They will investigate the role of the four economic sectors in responding to the needs. They will participate in a collection campaign or other service project and learn about organizations to which they can contribute their philanthropy. Students carry out the project, track their results, advocate for the cause, and reflect on their participation. This lesson was produced by Learning to Give, the curriculum arm of The LEAGUE, which is a school-based system that combines lesson plans with community service events. This lesson is aligned to national, state, and some international education standards.
About The Gateway to 21st Century Skills
The Gateway has been serving teachers continuously since 1996. It is the oldest publicly accessible U.S. repository of educational resources on the Web and the oldest continuously operating service of its kind in the world. The Gateway is sponsored by the National Education Association (NEA) and supported by over 700 quality contributors. The Gateway to 21st Century Skills is the cornerstone of the Global Learning Resource Connection (GLRC) which is a JES & Co. program.
About Joann Wasik- Author of Joann’s Picks
Joann is the Metadata Cataloger for The Gateway for 21st Century Skills. Her primary responsibilities for The Gateway include locating and cataloging standards-based K-12 lessons and activities for The Gateway, as well as writing the “Joann’s Picks” weekly column. Before joining The Gateway in 2006, Joann had been involved with numerous projects at the Information Institute of Syracuse at Syracuse University, including virtual reference with the Virtual Reference Desk (VRD) project; virtual reference competencies and education with the Digital Reference Education Initiative (DREI) project; and metadata cataloging with the Gateway for Educational Materials (GEM). Her previous experience also includes technology training and positions in academic libraries. She also conducts freelance research for business and educational clients. Joann holds B.A. and M.A.T. degrees in English from Boston College, and an M.L.S. degree from Syracuse University.
About Peggy James- Author of Peggy’s Corner
Peggy received her B.S. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from The University of Arizona, and continued on to earn her M.Ed. from the U of A as well. She has taught Physical Science and Chemistry at the high school level. She is working toward her endorsement in Gifted Education, and has been actively involved in coaching and volunteering in Odyssey of the Mind and Academic Decathlon. She has a passion for teaching critical thinking and creativity in the classroom. She has done work evaluating and aligning lesson plans to standards as a curriculum consultant with the National Education Association Health Information Network. She is very excited to help create a collaborative environment for educators to discover new resources that will enhance their teaching!
About the GLRC
The Global Learning Resource Connection (GLRC) is a public-private collaboration which brings to fruition ongoing work between JES & Co., a U.S. 501(c)(3) education research organization, corporate sponsors and education agencies worldwide. Leading the initial corporate involvement are founding worldwide partners Microsoft, Cisco, Cengage/Gale, the National Education Association (NEA), and other leading corporations in process. The GLRC ties together several significant semantic web technologies developed through funding from the National Science Foundation and is designed to support cyber learning. The GLRC supports the implementation of the mapping of major collections of learning resources in systems around the world to the machine-readable expressions of the learning outcomes based on the Achievement Standards Network (ASN) modeling and technical framework. The work will implement the international linking of those resources through trans-jurisdictional mapping of learning outcomes by means of Semantic Web/Linked Data principles for teacher/learner access and use. For more information about the GLRC, contact Terry Smithson at
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or visit us www.JESandCo.org.
About JES & Co.
JES & Co., a publicly funded 501(c) (3) education research organization, is a leader in research and deployment of education programs based on open standards. With 20 years of experience in interoperability and portability of educational resources, organizations around the world come to JES & Co. for leadership and guidance on education programs and initiatives. Since its establishment in the early 1990s, JES & Co. has led and managed The Achievement Standards Network (ASN), The Partnership for 21st Century Skills, The Gateway to 21st Century Skills (formerly known as GEM), the Dell Academy, the Intel Student Certification Program, and Microsoft’s Partners in Learning. For more information about JES & Co. or the Global Learning Resource Connection, visit www.JESandCo.org.
