West students analyze impact of disasters

Sixth grade students in Amanda Meadows and Donya Gartside’s classes at West Middle School recently worked on a research project analyzing the impact of natural disasters.

Students were formed into groups of three or four and had to research information over three natural disasters – a hurricane, tornado and earthquake. Students had to form conclusions based on what they learned about how forced migration, scarcity of consumer goods and whether the loss of employment impacted human populations where natural disasters have occurred.

“We had one student in each group become an ‘owner.’ This ‘owner’ created a Google form and shared it with the rest of their group," said teacher Amber Meadows .

"We had each member of the group fill out the form three separate times – once for each of their natural disasters. The form included name, date, latitude/longitude, and some basic facts about their disasters. The ‘owner’ then created a new map using Google My Maps- imported the form, and shared the map with the group. Members were able to edit info, change place marks, etc.

"The final step was for groups to present their maps to the whole class," Meadows said. "Students ‘shared’ their map with the teacher, so we were able to pull up their map on the promethean board for the entire class to see.”

Student Isaiah Stephens chose 2011 Hurricane Irene as one of his disasters.

“This project was a fun project. I loved using the Chrome books. I learned that a natural disaster can do a lot of damage, and it was fun to look up the information,” Stephens said.

Student Hayleigh Lamb chose Hurricane Hanna from 2008.

“I thought this project was something that gave me more knowledge about natural disasters and how serious they were. Overall, I enjoyed the project,” Lamb said.

Pictured are Hayleigh Lamb and Isaiah Stephens