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Stan's News November 2016

World Tsunami Day

Saturday 5 November is World Tsunami Day. It’s a chance for us to prepare for, and learn more about, our tsunami risk. There are lots of ideas for teaching about tsunami at whatstheplanstan.govt.nz, including:

Experiment - Big waves, big effect
Start this experiment on a table that can easily be shaken. Ask the students to create a "beach" using a mixture of sand and corn flour in one end of a rectangular container, and build little paper houses to add to it. Add water to the empty end of the container, making sure not to wash all the beach away. A good shake of the table will create an "earthquake" that results in a tsunami. This will provide children with an idea of how destructive tsunamis can be, as the houses become waterlogged and the sandy ground shifts.

Read - “The Race” by Rose Quilter in School Journal Part 3, No. 1, 2011
“The Race” appears to be an exciting story about a girl who is running a race – competing against her brother, with encouragement from Dad. As the story progresses, though, details show a different scenario. By the last page, it is clear that this is no ordinary race: the family is running to escape a tsunami that destroys the area where they have been. Teacher support material is available.

Work it out
Find out the speed of disasters such as tsunami and floods, and compare these to the speeds of different types of transport. Research the height of various tsunami around the world and graph the results.

More

Practise evacuation drills

Practices and simulations help students and teachers become familiar with the actions they need to take during or immediately after an emergency event. Take a look at the Information for Schools section of What’s the Plan, Stan? for advice on holding drills.

Make sure teachers, students, and whānau know the emergency procedures identified in the school’s emergency plan. Share them in school newsletters, on websites and social media.
You can use these drills as a prompt for teaching about why we have drills and what would happen directly after a drill in a real life emergency situation.

All of New Zealand’s coastline is at risk of tsunami. Early warning saves lives. Know what to do and where to go.

Stan update

Last month we launched an updated version of What’s the Plan, Stan? at www.whatstheplanstan.govt.nz. The well-known guide for teaching emergency preparedness in primary classroom, has been updated and is now live at www.whatstheplanstan.govt.nz.

Resources have been added for Years 1-3, school leaders, teachers and families. We are working on updating resources for years 4-7 by the end of the year, and making the website more interactve.

The original Stan resource for years 4-7 is still available to download in the meantime (and your school probably has the folder). The original resource in Te Reo, Kia Takatū, is also on the website (and will be updated over the next year).

The great thing about having a 100% online resource is we can add to and amend it whenever we like. If you have any feedback on the redeveloped resource, please let us know. Email emergency.management@dpmc.govt.nz.