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eHAND 2.0

Hosted by OSOS , contributed by f.sormani on 24 March 2018

According to recent researches  it is very likely that human activities will impact future catastrophes, like earthquakes, storms, floods, cyclones, landslides, also because  population growth and urbanization make communities much more vulnerable to natural hazards.
Several studies confirm that disaster and risk education should be part of the national primary and secondary school curricula and be included in several school subjects. So in our school started the Erasmus+ project eHAND( effects of human activities on natural disasters). The project involves seven partners and aims at arming students with the necessary skills to be future “good citizens” and contribute to the achievement of the goals of the Europa 2020 strategy, focusing sharply on more complex social issues, such as the links between environmental quality, human equality, human rights and peace, and on the critical role of science and technology in understanding and mitigating the effects of extreme events.


We would like :
to develop  an innovative interdisciplinary didactic path to increase interest in science related studies;
to improve the level of key competences and skills, with particular regard to learning and learning-to-learn skills,  language learning, greater literacy, science and maths competence, digital competence, entrepreneurship and creativity;
to encourage the participation of young people in democratic life in Europe,  through non- formal learning activities, which aim at enhancing the skills and competences of young people as well

We started with 6 classes, but the topic interested other teachers, so we planned eHAND 2.0, with some specific characteristic in our school.

Plan
-Creating a network with National Institutes of Geophysics, Environmental Science, local authorities, local ‘green jobs’ companies and NGOs which will play the role of consultants and active partners. The goal is to have an effective partnership to face the challenges of Expo 2020 about sustainability and opportunity.
-Inquiry learning
General researches on natural hazards and on geology, risk of 'natural '  disaster or disaster due to human activities (induced earthquakes and eruptions;events related to the climate change, like floods,landslides, melting glaciers, biodiversity loss, water issues) in each country and their monitoring; eventually focus on how we should act, individually and together, to protect, preserve and propagate our  environment, harness our knowledge, share insights and technologies  to build a better tomorrow., waste issues
Developing innovative didactic paths about the topic involving more  subject matters
Creating a platform with interdisciplinary and inquiry-based didactic activities, resources, materials, guidelines
Studies in depth the cutting edge technologies for the monitoring of geophysical phenomena on a large scale, for risk reduction, ( Earth observation  satellites, GPS...) and for a sustainable development ( new  technologies, alternative energy..)
-Experiential Learning
 design  a list of characteristics that should be registered about the risk  places ( location, construction, human activities, access to basic  resources like water and energy...)  
analysing  Italian legislation .)  
movie/television reports; drama, making/performing art  
-Action Learning
Actions with the volunteers of the Civil Protection.
developing material to raise awareness for the problem ( booklets, SN, social group, use of Smartphone,,,)
developing risk maps and risk reduction plans
developing ideas on environmental protection and sustainable development

Learning Objectives
Research the impact of natural disasters on the environment, society, economy in both theoretical and practical manner ; Provide opportunities for young people to acquire the skills and competencies necessary for their personal development
We looked for material on: Glacial retreat and Declining Artic sea ice, in particular this lesson plan The Big meltdown

and a lot of material on NASA and ESA website

and we elaborated one own

We would like :

- to understand  how glaciers and icebergs melt.

-  to understand the Albedo effect

-  to  understand the Glacier Movement

- to understand the dfference  between glaciers and icebergs melting on the sea rising

So we made some hyothesis and we planned experiments to verify them


 

Focus on the methods of Heat Transfer and on the Albedo problem. We reflected on these problems, made some hypothesis.

To verify our hypothesis we did Experiments  on heat transfer, on Albedo effect, on glacier and Iceberg melting and on glaciers movement.

Our experiments1     and experiment2

 

 

To verify  glaciers and Icebergs melting on the sea level rise, we  planned Lesson   and  Whorksheet

We produced an Essay  and gave lectures to youngers students.

The two trips planned so far are to the Morteratatsh glacier and to Passo del Foscagno. The  visit to Passo del Foscagno is linked to the study of permafrost, because according to recent researches permafrost thawing will be a key issue influencing hydrogeological systems, ecosystems and the release of CH4 and CO2 into the atmosphere.

The Morteratsch glacier in southeastern Switzerland is retreating due to Global Warming. A number of rocks and signposts marking the position of the glacier from 1878 to 20010 make the glacier retreat visible. Beside this trip let students know the  Bernina Railway Line,UNESCO World Heritage

We studied and examined in depth the cutting edge technologies for the monitoring of geophysical and environmental phenomena on a large scale and for risk reduction ( Earth observation satellites, like,Sentinel and Landsat, an GPS...), also during work experience at the University.

Here their works about the glacier melting in Lombardia

and our video

We participated to many competitions: AstroPi (our code run on ISS), GlobalLAB ( we were invited to final step), Educarctic..

We organized a exhibit for the Earth Day

Take a look at our padlet