Last summer I took a two week course about volcanoes at the Geophysical Institute in Fairbanks. (Dr. John Dehn from the Volcanoes in the Infrared video was one of the instructors of the institute, and my classmates and I were able to use the FLIR camera on a field visit to Chena Hot Springs!) It was an amazing experience, and the GI website is filled with resources and website links related to this module's them of cataclysmic events. Please explore their website for more exciting ideas and reso
urces! On the GI website there is a link to the Alaska Earthquake Information Center, in which I found a great map of the Aleutian Islands/Alaska Peninsula Seismicity that shows the magnitude of significant earthquakes, but mostly illustrates very well just how active the Aleutian islands are!Earthquakes
Some intense tectonic forces caused the 1964 earthquake, including massive continental and oceanic plates, continually moving and colliding with each other, in which one plate can divide or subduct under one another and cause tremendous pressure to build up. In addition, the other devastating forces that were a result of the 9.2 earthquake were aftershocks that persisted for days. Unstable sediments broke off generating tsumani that killed many, and the ground level dropped up to ten feet near water; and in five minutes left a profoundly devastating mark on the communities it affected. In response to this event, one way people have since responded to the events of the 1964 earthquake are that towns were rebuilt on more solid land (about 3 miles away).
Alaska's Volcanoes
- The Aleutian Archipelago is roughly just under 1,000 miles, while the Aleutian Trench is almost 2,000 miles.
My students have been studying weather and climate, temperature, pressure, wind, and precipitation - and looking at the different weather patterns in Anchorage and Portage Valley. So I decided to use the Google Earth ruler tool to measure the distance between our school and Portage Valley, and I think my third graders will find it quite interesting. I have also noticed that the more I use Google Earth, the more familiar I become with it and can see more and more how I can use it for helping my students with spacial understanding. Third graders certainly have a limited view and understanding of the world, but if I can use Google Earth to locate a country we just read a story about (South Korea), or something that happened in the country of the language they are learning (Japan), it will be so much more relevant to them.
Hawaiian Hot Spots
The floor of the Pacific Ocean on which the islands rest is one of twenty or so moving tectonic plates, and an interacting plate and a hot spot. As the plate moves along, it gradually produces volcanoes along the plate as it moves. Moving along the hot spot, carrying old islands away while new ones are created, while the old volcanoes die, erode, and eventually submerge to form the unbroken submarine mountain range anchored by the big island and it's active volcanoes. That is why the underground volcano Loihi is forming! I really enjoyed the video Plate Tectonics: The Hawai'ian Archipelago because it explained concepts in an easy to understand way with graphics as well.
Before watching the TD Resource about the Hawai'ian Archipelago and Unerwater Hotspots, I did not have a good understanding of the Hawai'ian islands, and I had never even heard of the Emperor Seamount! Since taking this course I am now quite familiar with resources I can utilize to help me understand concepts better, but after looking at Wikipedia first and then watching the TD video second - I am amazed at how much more useful the TD videos are than anything else I have found yet! Wikipedia does not talk to me, does not explain anything using interactive images, and while it is a solid resource of definitions for many things - it cannot do what the TD resources have done to help me visualize and understand concepts otherwise foreign to me.
Tsunami
The personal story of the two survivors of the Latuya Bay Tsunami were quite powerful. The part I found especially interesting was the comment the gentleman made about how he had never heard or seen of anything like that before, and he kept wondering what mechanism could've caused something like that. Even now I think it is hard for people do not have a strong science background to understand the reasoning why this can happen, and I am beginnging to have a better understanding of how earthquakes cause tsunami.
One of the other things that I got from this section was the value of YouTube as an educational tool. I am not sure how it is in other district's than my own, but my school district has blocked YouTube completely because of the inappropriate material that can sometimes be found. But, you can always download the videos you wish to use in advance, or get a special path to bypass the block on your network. Interesting though that it has been made difficult to utilize in many cases...
A website that I found that appeared to be useful in portraying tsunami in Alaska is the Alaska Tsunami Education Program, which has links to all sorts of information, including: Ask a Scientist, Tsunami Lesson Plans & Student Projects, and even videos of mentor lectures posted on the website. Great resource, especially for elementary-middle school.
Cultural Connections
One of the things I found interesting was a part of the NOVA Wave of the Future article about the Tsunami in the Indian Ocean that stated, "Within days of the catastrophe, with the adage "better late than never" sitting heavily on everyone's minds, commentators worldwide were calling for a tsunami warning system in the Indian Ocean akin to a successful one now operating in the Pacific." I was shocked that there was one working perfectly well in the Pacific but an entire part of the world was without one. Shows my naivety! Distantly connected to the videos on cultural connections is something I heard about in the news a short while back about a Native dancing ban that had been lifted. Again, my naivety comes out. Overall though, it is tantamount that cultures are able to pass on their culture through stories and traditions, hence the anger and frustration of the Hawai'ian people over Mauna Kea and the Native people of Noorvik, Alaska.
Thus, I believe that stories of cataclysmic events can certainly help better inform students about the actual science behind geosciences, as well as the human connection and importance of understanding how these events affect and change cultures.
Great blog ...great links and style.
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