Studying natural disasters help students to understand what they are, the potential damage they can do, and how unpredictable they can be. It is also a chance to teach students how to relate to other people that have been affected by natural disasters and then ideally to get students thinking about what they can do to help people in need after a natural disaster. To get students to want to help others, I think first you need to teach the science behind what happened and get them to have a good understanding of the scientific content. Next move instruction into how it has affected the people in the region of the natural disaster. I think students need to see model teacher behavior by seeing the teacher concerned and helping the affected area. Discuss with students how good it feels to help someone and that giving away something to someone in need has a tremendous internal reward. My students are fourth graders and I think it is important that they know the reality of life about natural disasters in terms of how unpredictable they are. Natural disasters can happen anywhere at any time. It is a fine line because I do not want to scare students, yet I do want to expose them to what happens when an area is damaged due to a natural disaster. I would connect students to a community organization about relief efforts by having someone from the Red Cross come in and explain how people of all ages can help their organization. To take it to the next level, the class could brainstorm and decide on a plan that they could implement to help the area that has been affected by the natural disaster.
