Extreme Weather and Critical Infrastructure Failure
As part of an impact uplift activity we invited selected schools and educational groups across the UK and the US , where we already have good links, to consider the implications of our project for their own practice in terms of constructing lessons and materials on personal and social education, citizenship, geography and history. Additionally we aimed to adapt our findings into materials that can be used by schools, or in informal learning, using the website to distribute these materials. This will involve making international links between international schools in the UK and the US with the potential to extend at a later date to include in the other comparator countries; Japan, Germany, and New Zealand.
The schools were invited to take part by working with a group of children within their school, or educational group, to focus on an extreme weather disaster relevant to their country and to consider the implications of such a disaster for the community and the population. They were also invited to consider the implications of a critical infrastructure failure as a direct result of the extreme weather disaster they were studying.
The schools were then asked to produce some form of output, such as a leaflet, essay or photo essay, which could be shared with the other schools in the UK and the US enabling a exchange of knowledge. In addition the schools were asked to exchange knowledge via a pen pal system in order that the children could communicate with each other on the topics they were working on.
The schools involved in this project are;
The schools were invited to take part by working with a group of children within their school, or educational group, to focus on an extreme weather disaster relevant to their country and to consider the implications of such a disaster for the community and the population. They were also invited to consider the implications of a critical infrastructure failure as a direct result of the extreme weather disaster they were studying.
The schools were then asked to produce some form of output, such as a leaflet, essay or photo essay, which could be shared with the other schools in the UK and the US enabling a exchange of knowledge. In addition the schools were asked to exchange knowledge via a pen pal system in order that the children could communicate with each other on the topics they were working on.
The schools involved in this project are;
King Edward’s School is an independent co-educational boarding and day school for 11-18 year olds, the school has 400 students, 300 of whom board. King Edward’s School is located in a rural location in Surrey, United Kingdom.
Involvement in this project:
Educational lead - Phil Humphries
Subject area – Geography
Age group of children involved – 11-13 years old (2nd Form)
Number of children involved – 26
Extreme Weather Focus – Severe snow storm
Infrastructure focus – electrical power
‘What If’ – a severe snow storm occurred in the UK and made the roads surrounding King Edward School impassable and took down the power cables for a week?
King Edward School is a boarding school located in a very rural area and is accessed via country roads. The school only keeps enough food for two days on site at any one time and even though they have an emergency power generator, this only powers the kitchen and 13amp sockets. They will look at what would happen if there were a severe snowstorm in the UK that made the roads surrounding the school impassable and also took down the power lines. They will focus this on the assumption that this may remain for a week.
Davenant Foundation school is a Christian, ecumenical, comprehensive school for 11-18 year olds, the school has 1250 students. Davenant Foundation school became an academy in 2011 and continue to work as a centre for teacher training and professional development. Davenant Foundation school is located in Essex, United Kingdom.
Involvement in this project
Educational lead - Dr Daniel Lear
Subject area – Geography
Age group of children involved – 13-14 years old (year 9)
Number of children involved – 6-8
Extreme Weather Focus – 1953 Storm surge
Infrastructure – power stations, gasworks, roads, railways, sewage services and water services were put out of action.
‘What If’ – this happened again now?
The 1953 storm surge led to the development and construction of the Thames Barrier in the UK. Students will focus on the historical extreme weather event and identify what impact the event had and what infrastructure was affected. They will look at the development and construction of the Thames Barrier. They will then look at what would happen now if a similar storm surge were to happen.
A homeschooling family in Rockaways, US and children from the Kanarsi community, US.
Involvement in this project
Age of children involved – 5, 7 & 15 years old
Number of children involved – 3
Extreme weather focus – Hurricane Sandy
What happened? & What next? – The focus of this is to exchange knowledge about what happened in the community that they children lived, what infrastructure was affected, how the community came together and what still needs doing and how.
Hurricane Sandy was the most deadly and destructive hurricane of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season. At its strongest it had wind speeds of 115mph causing widespread damage costing $68 Billion and significant fatalities. In the US Hurricane Sandy affected 24 states with particularly severe damage in New Jersey and New York, affecting transportation networks, flooding and power cuts.