As an 8th grade Science teacher, I’m always searching for high-quality resources to add to my curriculum. In our Earth and Human Activity unit, we investigate how humans affect our planet. For the last few years, I’ve used Retro Report’s short doc “Unprepared: Lessons From Two Massive Oil Spills.” My students are always completely transfixed and shocked at these two events. They have so many questions! Even my most reluctant students are much more engaged in discussions than usual, which makes this video a good option for an Earth Day activity.
As a middle school teacher, I have to keep in mind that most of my students have never heard of the Exxon Valdez oil spill or the Deep Water Horizon disaster, so I use this video to build content area knowledge and critical thinking skills. I’ve used this resource in different ways:
- As a unit kick-off (video and discussion only)
- As a class activity (video and accompanying lesson plan)
- As part of a cross-curricular series of lessons with my Civics teammate, for our Environmental Justice mini-unit
The video inspired students to research the impact of oil spills. (Kathleen Wilson)
There is one point in the video where an underwater camera is centered on the Deepwater Horizon’s leak, and the television news chyron reads “Day 36”. As soon as that graphic hits the screen, students always turn to me in shock. It is truly a memorable moment. This year, someone gasped and called out, “36 days?!”
At the end of our unit this year, students chose a human impact topic to explore in depth. Several groups chose to research how oil spills affect coastal ecosystems, a choice directly inspired by their desire to extend their learning after watching the Retro Report video.
One of my favorite aspects of teaching at the middle school level is collaborating with my colleagues to create cross-curricular lessons. This is my recommendation to Science teachers at any level: Pair up with a Civics or History teacher to present this video from different perspectives, as it also connects to government regulations, state vs. federal disaster budgets, historical events and environmental justice.
KATHLEEN WILSON teaches Science at Gates Middle School in Scituate, Mass., and is a former museum educator. Kathleen, a member of the Retro Report Council of Educators, created resources for the Retro Report video “Amazon Rainforest Defenders Confront Violence, Encroachment and Politics.”
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