A P P E N D I X
Abstract
Earth science students at Salem High School have participated in an environment of critical skills. Events are student
centered, learning stresses both process and curriculum content, and the foundation for activity is problem-solving projects.
This particular project had students designing and rehearsing part of an emergency management plan in response to a
hypothetical earthquake affecting Salem, NH. Students assumed the roles of town officials in a three-hour drill held in
Salem’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC). The drill was sponsored by the town of Salem and the New Hampshire Office
of Emergency Management. Project origin, planning, performance, and follow-up are detailed in this paper.
Introduction
For seven months students in this class spent more than 100 hours not only learning about specific topics in Earth science but
also learning specific strategies for learning and working together. In March, as our plate tectonics unit progressed, the time
to apply our learning had arrived. A project was designed in cooperation with our town’s emergency management director
and the New Hampshire Office of Emergency Management.
In this project students were to design, document, and use a hazard plan to be added to Salem’s Emergency Management
Plan for earthquake response. Students did extensive research and documentation, preparing a plan and also preparing
themselves to play roles as decision makers in a disaster. The teacher, the emergency management director, and Office of
Emergency Management staff members met and communicated many times to finalize the details.
The actual drill, held in Salem’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC), greatly surpassed all expectations. Students handled
crisis after crisis as part of a three-hour drill that included mass destruction, dam failure, utility outages, looting, hospital
closings, and multiple evacuations. Groups of students rotated through three one-hour shifts filling various roles in turn,
including those of the school superintendent, reporters, and selectmen. There was confusion and near hysteria as a myriad of
details crowded the EOC. Students struggled at times to prioritize and solve problems. All the participants and observers
came away with a new respect for each other and a new appreciation of the need to be prepared for the worst.
How It All Began
Teaching in this class proceeds from the philosophy that learning is a very complex behavior. Learning is different for each
individual, and schools need to recognize these differences. Schools also need to teach not only the “what” but also the
“how” of learning. With this in mind, these 96 people were provided a student-centered environment that made them
ultimately responsible for their learning both as individuals and as a group. Students spent many class periods doing
activities that provided experience with various learning styles. Projects were used to create concrete and abstract
opportunities for learners, including reading, writing, coordinating, prioritizing, and communicating.
Emphasis is placed on the belief that there are often many viable solutions to a problem. For this reason, creativity is strongly
fostered, as students are urged to produce quality work from their own base of knowledge and experience. The teacher is not
the “fountain of knowledge.” Students must find their own answers that they can support fiercely and intimately. Guidance
and direction are given in the form of specific teacher questions. As students gain experience and comfort completing
curriculum-based projects in this student-centered class, they begin to take more control of their education, needing less
teacher input. With greater student responsibility, the teacher’s goal is to balance content and process so that each remains
equally valued in learning.
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