11:35 AM - 11:55 AM
[O05-07] The Relationship between Geology and Disaster Culture Seen through Educational Practice
- How to Teach about Dealing with Natural Disasters ? -
★Invited Papers
0. "Geology" and "Disaster Culture"
The word "geology" is used in the title, but in this report it is used more broadly including "earth,", "topography", "geography", "geology", "meteorology", "oceanology" and so on. And "disaster culture" includes knowledge accumulated through experiences of disasters, disaster prevention science, technology, ransmission or art, education, etc. This report describes how to position disaster culture in educational activities for disaster mitigation.
1. What is the Meaning of Teaching Disasters? Where and How are Disasters Taught?
Disasters are one of the effects of the earth's activities on human society. Therefore, as long as human beings live on the earth, disasters cannot be avoided. Therefore, we need to think about how we can mitigate disasters. It is, of course, important to learn how to survive after a disaster through trainings and simulations, but that will not be mentioned here. Rather, it is more important to consider what we should do to prepare before a disaster. For this purpose, education is required to understand the following: (1) What is the mechanism by which disasters occur? (2) How do disasters affect human society? (3) What kinds of disasters have occurred in the past? (4) What is expected to happen in the future? (5) How can we prepare for disaster mitigation?
2. Dealing with Natural Disasters in High School Education
In the current curriculum, the contents of natural disasters in "Basic Earth Science" is mainly (1), while the contents in the newly adopted "General Geography" is mainly (2) and (3). This is suggesting that there is a distinction between the two. In other words, "Basic Earth Science" hardly touches on the contents after (2). However, (1) is also rarely explained based on physical and chemical principles and laws, such as the mechanical processes that cause certain natural phenomena and how these processes lead to disasters. In this sense, there is not much difference between the two subjects. In the high school curriculum, there is a subject called "Science and Human Life," in which students learn how natural phenomena are related to human life. Disasters are born from the existence of human societyin the natural environment, and we cannot talk about disasters without considering human life. For example, human society has been established by receiving benefits from nature. By understanding this duality of disasters and benefits first, we can face disasters that we would rather forget. What is the rreason for existing of "Basic Earth Science" without such a storyline for disaster education?
3. From Nature's Benefits and Disaster Culture to Disaster Mitigation
Therefore, we tried to develop a classwork that is not bound by the category of erath science and we constructed the contents and procedures of the classwork as follows. The first step is to realize how human society has developed in the natural environment of the area. Observation of the landscape and fieldwork are appropriate for this. Then, we will consider why human life has developed in the area. This is because of the great benefits we received from nature, but the risk of disasters is high. In this situation, our ancestors overcame disasters and continued their activities, creating a "disaster culture. Learning about this duality of nature and human response may help us to think about what we can do ourselves to survive disasters that may occur in the future.
4. Practical Results
To verify the above, lectures and practical training were given to university students , teachers, and the general citizens. However, due to various constraints on fieldwork, we used photographs of landscapes and topographic and geological maps as substitutes. The results showed that responses varied considerably from subjects. In particular, the attitude of high school science teachers toward disaster education seems to be problematic.
The word "geology" is used in the title, but in this report it is used more broadly including "earth,", "topography", "geography", "geology", "meteorology", "oceanology" and so on. And "disaster culture" includes knowledge accumulated through experiences of disasters, disaster prevention science, technology, ransmission or art, education, etc. This report describes how to position disaster culture in educational activities for disaster mitigation.
1. What is the Meaning of Teaching Disasters? Where and How are Disasters Taught?
Disasters are one of the effects of the earth's activities on human society. Therefore, as long as human beings live on the earth, disasters cannot be avoided. Therefore, we need to think about how we can mitigate disasters. It is, of course, important to learn how to survive after a disaster through trainings and simulations, but that will not be mentioned here. Rather, it is more important to consider what we should do to prepare before a disaster. For this purpose, education is required to understand the following: (1) What is the mechanism by which disasters occur? (2) How do disasters affect human society? (3) What kinds of disasters have occurred in the past? (4) What is expected to happen in the future? (5) How can we prepare for disaster mitigation?
2. Dealing with Natural Disasters in High School Education
In the current curriculum, the contents of natural disasters in "Basic Earth Science" is mainly (1), while the contents in the newly adopted "General Geography" is mainly (2) and (3). This is suggesting that there is a distinction between the two. In other words, "Basic Earth Science" hardly touches on the contents after (2). However, (1) is also rarely explained based on physical and chemical principles and laws, such as the mechanical processes that cause certain natural phenomena and how these processes lead to disasters. In this sense, there is not much difference between the two subjects. In the high school curriculum, there is a subject called "Science and Human Life," in which students learn how natural phenomena are related to human life. Disasters are born from the existence of human societyin the natural environment, and we cannot talk about disasters without considering human life. For example, human society has been established by receiving benefits from nature. By understanding this duality of disasters and benefits first, we can face disasters that we would rather forget. What is the rreason for existing of "Basic Earth Science" without such a storyline for disaster education?
3. From Nature's Benefits and Disaster Culture to Disaster Mitigation
Therefore, we tried to develop a classwork that is not bound by the category of erath science and we constructed the contents and procedures of the classwork as follows. The first step is to realize how human society has developed in the natural environment of the area. Observation of the landscape and fieldwork are appropriate for this. Then, we will consider why human life has developed in the area. This is because of the great benefits we received from nature, but the risk of disasters is high. In this situation, our ancestors overcame disasters and continued their activities, creating a "disaster culture. Learning about this duality of nature and human response may help us to think about what we can do ourselves to survive disasters that may occur in the future.
4. Practical Results
To verify the above, lectures and practical training were given to university students , teachers, and the general citizens. However, due to various constraints on fieldwork, we used photographs of landscapes and topographic and geological maps as substitutes. The results showed that responses varied considerably from subjects. In particular, the attitude of high school science teachers toward disaster education seems to be problematic.