Duck-n-Cover! Nuclear Disasters Research Project: A Differentiated Approach to Inquiry Based Learning — 8403

Summary

My 10th grade English students were intrigued by the nuclear disaster presented in the fictional short story “There Will Come Soft Rains” by Ray Bradbury. Many students posed questions such as: Could this really happen? Do people want to bomb the US now? What does radiation do to people, anyway? This lesson will allow students to explore these concepts and develop valuable research skills. In this lesson and subsequent project, students will be primarily responsible for directing their own learning. After learning about how to properly conduct research, they will generate their own questions, use technology to guide their research, and develop a 21st century research product to share with their classmates, the school at large, and the outside community.

TIPC Ratings

Ideal/Target – In this inquiry based lesson, students generated their own specific research questions based on a broad topic–Nuclear Disasters. Using topics of interest, students were able to research using the most appropriate digital tools and informational sources to complete the authentic task: Metacognition–learning about learning. The purpose of the lesson was to encourage each student to ask questions about an unknown topic, formulate specific research questions, use all tools available to answer the question, apply new-found knowledge in a format to share with others, and then ultimately reflect on one’s own learning. Each student generated his or her own questions, such as :Could this really happen? Do people want to bomb the US now? What does radiation do to people, anyway? “

Approaching – Students worked in self-selected groups and chose the appropriate tools to present their research, using Prezi, Movie Maker, Padlet, Google Presentations, or non-digital. They established group norms, formed teams and organized their roles to address the authentic task and extend their learning beyond the scope of the lesson by exploring the impact/effects of nuclear weapons, and created a 21st century product to communicate their new-found knowledge with others through SchoolSpace.

Ideal/Target — After reading the short story “There Will Come Soft Rains” by Ray Bradbury, the learners had many unanswered questions about nuclear and radiological disasters. As a result, they developed their own research questions, chose appropriate digital tools to answer these questions, and shared knowledge with others using technology. Afterwards, students reflected on own learning via digital surveys and formal narrative letters. In the reflection letters, students looked back and analyzed the following aspects of the learning process: what they learned about the particular nuclear disaster they researched, the outcomes of working individually or with a group, and the research process in general.

Ideal/Target — As seen in the students’ artifacts, especially in the student generated video on the Brazilian X Ray Machine disaster, students were able to extend knowledge to predict and warn against future radiological and or nuclear disasters. One student reminded the class that history has a tendency to repeat itself, and we must be diligent to avoid another Hiroshima.