Profile Sheet
Teacher:
Title:
Primary Subject Area:
Outside Subject Area:
Class and Level:
Grade: Level:
Ms. Howard
Community Members Address the Hurricane Emergency Plan
Science
Language Arts
Science (Advanced)
8th Grade
Profile Sheet
Description of Student Roles and Problem Situation:
With hurricane season fast approaching, the students assume of the roles of community
members and Emergency Response Workers. They will be evaluating effective
solutions to reach the population that does not heed evacuation warnings and
presenting their findings to the Bay County Emergency Management Team.
Adaptations for a student from a non-Western culture:
In a one-on-one conversation, I will determine the learner’s prior knowledge of the
subject area through direct questioning. Information solicited will include knowledge of
how political, social, and economic factors influence people in the home culture and
experiences with hurricanes or other natural disasters. When circulating among groups,
I will observe to see if the non-Western student is participating in group discussions and
offering opinions/suggestions. If not, I will actively solicit input from the student. I will
model acceptance of differences and show respect for all opinions.
Adaptations for ESOL Student:
I can help the student locate articles about hurricanes or other natural disasters in
his/her home culture (if applicable). I can provide extra information about the
Geographically Weighted Regression. I can provide translations for the Meet the
Problem Documents.
Title, Learner Characteristics, and
Next Generation Sunshine State Standards
Teacher:
Title:
Primary Subject Area:
Outside Subject Area:
Class and Level:
Grade: Level:
Ms. Howard
Community Members Address the Hurricane Emergency Plan
Science
Language Arts
Science (Advanced)
8th Grade
Primary Sunshine State Standards:
SC.8.N.4.1 Explain that science is one of the processes that can be used to inform
decision making at the community, state, national, and international levels.
SC.8.N.4.2 Explain how political, social, and economic concerns can affect science, and
vice versa.
Outside Subject Area Sunshine State Standards from Language Arts:
LA.8.3.5.1 The student will prepare writing use technology in a format appropriate to
audience and purpose (e.g. manuscript, multimedia)
Learner Characteristics of Middle Grades Students:
Physical Characteristics: Concern and curiosity about sex are almost universal,
especially among girls. During this project, I will acknowledge the different maturity
levels of my students and group them accordingly, with a combination of mature and
less mature students in each group.
Social Characteristics: The development of interpersonal reasoning (the ability to
understand the relationship between motives and behavior) leads to greater
understanding of the feelings of other. Because this is a community based project
concerning the safety of the people residing there, they will explore how others may
react to distressful situations and the reasons behind their reactions.
Emotional Characteristics: As a result of the continued influence of egocentric thought,
middle school students are typically self-conscious and self-centered. This project
allows the students to look beyond their selves and to the needs of others.
Cognitive Characteristics: Because of the psychological demands of early adolescence,
middle school students need a classroom environment that is open, supportive, and
intellectually stimulating. This project provides an opportunity for cooperative learning,
which has been shown to increase self-esteem levels in adolescents.
Cognitive Characteristics: Self-efficacy becomes an important influence on intellectual
and social behavior. Finding the solutions to the problem introduced in this scenario
will give the students the ability to analyze both their own views, as well as those of
others. Solving the problem in a way that benefits the whole community will give them
a sense of self-efficacy.
Learning Outcomes, Student Role and Problem Situation,
Meet the Problem Method
Title:
Bay County Citizens Address the Hurricane Emergency Plan
Teacher: Ms. Howard
Primary Sunshine State Standards with Learning Outcomes:
SC.8.N.4.1 Explain that science is one of the processes that can be used to inform
decision making at the community, state, national, and international levels.
Learning Objective 1: Working in groups, students will evaluate how a Geographically
Weighted Regression (GWR)model can be used to account for spatial variations during
an evacuation, examining household income, access to media, and availability of
transportation, providing at least two examples for each area, with 75% accuracy
(Evaluation).
SC.8.N.4.2 Explain how political, social, and economic concerns can affect science, and
vice versa.
Learning Objective 2: Given internet access and 2 class periods, students will work in
groups to research what political, social and economic factors influence people in their
failure to comply with mandatory evacuation and devise at least 2 solutions to
encourage more people to evacuate with 75% accuracy (Analysis).
Outside Subject Area Sunshine State Standards from Language Arts with
Learning Outcome:
LA.8.3.5.1 The student will prepare writing using technology in a format appropriate to
audience and purpose (e.g. manuscript, multimedia)
Learning Objective 3: Given a presentation rubric, the students will prepare a
PowerPoint Show that presents their solutions, with 80% accuracy, according to the
rubric. (Synthesis)
Description of Student Roles and Problem Situation:
With hurricane season fast approaching, the students assume of the roles of community
members and Emergency Response Workers. They will be evaluating effective
solutions to reach the population that does not heed evacuation warnings and
presenting their findings to the Bay County Emergency Management Team.
Meet the Problem Documents:
The Memo from Doug Jones and News Articles (attached) are utilized as “meet the
problem” documents.
Bay County, Florida
MEMO
Date:
From:
To:
Subject:
May 15, 2012
Doug Jones, County Emergency Management Coordinator
Bay County Citizens
Reaching All Members of the Community for Hurricane Evacuation
As noted in the attached articles, certain members of communities tend not to evacuate during
Hurricanes. After reviewing a case study of the problems during the evacuation of Hurricane
Katrina, the Emergency Management Team feels efforts must be stepped up to prevent a
similar occurrence here. We are calling for new procedures to be enacted to reach the
members of Bay County who are less prone to heed the warnings. We are asking concerned
residents and emergency response workers to assemble a panel to research possible solutions.
We are seeking a proactive approach to prevent unnecessary loss of life. As Hurricane Season
is fast approaching, we are requesting that the panel present their recommendations to the
Emergency Management Team on May 25, 2012. The Bay County Emergency Team has a
budget of $200,000 to implement the best solution.
Leaving New Orleans: Social Stratification, Networks, and Hurricane
Evacuation
By Elizabeth Fussell
Published on: Jun 11, 2006
Elizabeth Fussell is assistant professor of sociology at Tulane University. She is the author of several articles and
book chapters on the use of social networks in Mexican migration to the United States, including “Sources of
Mexico’s Migration Stream: Rural, Urban, and Border Migrants to the United States,” Social Forces 82(3); and
“Limits to the Cumulative Causation of Migration: International Migration from Urban Mexico,” with Douglas S.
Massey, Demography 41(1).
The world watched helplessly as thousands of New Orleanians were caught in the wake of
Hurricane Katrina. While some blamed public officials for not responding soon enough, others
blamed the victims for not evacuating when they knew the hurricane’s arrival was imminent. One
fundamental insight of social science is to understand the illogic of blaming the victim (Ryan 1976).
Without understanding social stratification in the city of New Orleans – a city with one of the
highest levels of income inequality in our country – it is difficult to understand the strategies people
employed to survive the storm and that they are using to restart their lives in its aftermath.
Inequality in education and income, residential segregation, and discrimination contribute not only
to social stratification among individuals, but also to stratification between social networks – that
is, the group of family, friends, and associates to which people can turn for help. Both factors shaped
people’s strategies to leave New Orleans or not, and how they are rebuilding their lives in the
hurricane’s aftermath.
New Orleans is a city in which 27.9 percent of residents live below the poverty line, 11.7 percent
are age 65 or older, only 74.7 percent are high school graduates and 27.3 percent of households do
not have cars. Furthermore, a larger than average percentage of residents have disabilities: 10.3
percent of 5-20 year olds, 23.6 percent of 21-64 year olds, and 50.1 percent of those age 65 and
older have disabilities according to the 2000 U.S. census. In addition, 77.4 percent of New Orleans
residents were born in Louisiana and have lived most of their lives there. These statistics alone go
far to explain why tens of thousands of the 500,000 residents of New Orleans did not evacuate; in so
many ways they were more rooted in place than the average American. The fact that 67.3 percent of
the residents are African-American was only the most visually apparent of all these statistics (U.S.
Census, 2004).1 New Orleanians' plans for evacuation were strongly shaped by their income-level,
age, access to information, access to private transportation, their physical mobility and health, their
occupations and their social networks outside of the city. These social characteristics translated
into distinct evacuation strategies for different sectors of the population.
Leaving or staying
The evacuation strategies of most upper and middle-income residents were quite straightforward:
make a hotel reservation or arrange a visit with out-of-town friends and family, board the house
windows if you can, pack the car, get some cash and leave town. These residents most often
evacuated during the voluntary or mandatory evacuation period in the 24 to 48 hours before the
storm was predicted to hit. For this group, the costs of leaving on Saturday were lower with respect
to missing work or school since the storm was projected to arrive on Monday. They were likely to
have been informed by television, radio, internet, e-mail, or telephone of the hurricane’s projected
path long before it arrived. Nevertheless, the majority of those evacuating waited until Sunday to
leave (Anderson 2005). Indeed, riding out the storm is an old New Orleans tradition. In the past,
many better-off New Orleanians have chosen to stay in the city during hurricanes, evacuating
“vertically” to the upper floors of the downtown hotels. As Hurricane Katrina approached, however,
hotel officials denied them their rooms and encouraged them to leave of their own volition
(Mowbray 2005).
Low-income residents had fewer choices with respect to how to prepare for the imminent arrival of
Katrina. Since the storm was at the end of the month and many low-income residents of New
Orleans live from paycheck to paycheck, economic resources for evacuating were particularly
scarce. Furthermore, low-income New Orleanians are those who are least likely to own vehicles,
making voluntary evacuation more costly and logistically more difficult. These residents were also
more likely to depend upon television and radio for news of the storm, and alarm from these
channels only became heightened in the last 48 hours before the storm arrived. Although most of
these residents joined the flow of traffic out of the city on Sunday, many remained in their homes
hoping for the best, and others headed to the Superdome rather than taking the few city buses
available to out of town shelters (Filosa 2005). Those going to the Superdome and later the Morial
Convention Center believed that these shelters would provide sufficient
Article: LIVE SCIENCE
Why People Ignore Hurricane Evacuation
Warnings
Andrea Thompson
Date: 15 September 2008 Time: 10:24 AM ET
As Hurricane Ike's floodwaters begin to recede from Galveston, Texas, and other areas of the
Gulf Coast, emergency responders are surveying the storm's damage and rescuing thousands of
residents who ignored evacuation orders.
There are many reasons why some people don't heed evacuation notices — some think they can
ride out the winds and surging waters, while others simply have nowhere to go and no way to
leave. Still others remember unnecessary evacuations from botched forecasts and enter a "boy
who cried 'wolf'" mentality.
"And then some people just don't perceive the risk to be that high," Rebecca Morss of the
National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., told LiveScience.
New residents to the Gulf Coast may simply not realize the threat posed by a hurricane's storm
surge, which often causes most of the damage associated with the storm.
Any or all of these reasons can combine to cause a few holdouts to decide to take their chances
with the storm, instead of seeking safety.
Ike's aftermath
The evacuation scenario started to unfold last Thursday morning when Galveston officials
ordered a mandatory evacuation for the entire island, while Ike was still churning out in the Gulf
of Mexico. Residents of low-lying areas around Houston were also ordered to leave.
Officials largely considered the evacuation a success, as more than 1 million residents heeded the
evacuation call and fled inland, but thousands of their neighbors in Galveston and elsewhere
stayed behind.
"The evacuation I think was a great success. We had a few hardheads. We always do," Texas
Gov. Rick Perry told The New York Times.
Some estimates put the number of stragglers in Texas as high as 140,000 people, according to the
Associated Press.
When those thousands became stranded by the storm, Texas officials mounted the largest searchand-rescue effort in the history of the state. By Monday, almost 2,000 people had been rescued
from storm-hit areas. Not all were plucked from their roofs though; some simply ran out of water
and food and had no gas or electricity.
Why they stay
Just why some people decide to stay in harm's way has been a subject of study for some
scientists, and there are a multitude of reasons, Morss said.
"Some people don't have the ability to evacuate," Morss said, either because they don't have
transportation or don't have the money to pay for gas, food and a hotel for an indefinite period
that could possibly stretch to weeks.
Others may not understand the warnings because they are hearing impaired, only speak a foreign
language, or are isolated from other people.
Some coastal residents may have ridden out a smaller storm before and think they can do so
again, or evacuated for another storm that shifted course or didn't cause as much damage as
expected, in which case people don't want to disrupt their lives and uproot their family
unnecessarily, Morss said.
Such cases were reported in media coverage of Ike. In one Associated Press story, a 5-year-old
boy named Jack King was said to have been injured when Ike's storm surge swept through his
family's house in Galveston.
"We just didn't think it was going to come up like this," the boy's father, Lee King, told the AP.
"I'm from New Orleans, I know better. I just didn't think it was going to happen."
Morss conducted a study (detailed in the April 2008 issue of the Bulletin of the American
Meteorological Society) and interviewed evacuees of Hurricane Rita, which made landfall along
the Texas-Louisiana border on Sept. 24, 2005, just weeks after Hurricane Katrina devastated
New Orleans.
The evacuees Morss interviewed, who had left areas of Texas that ended up unaffected by Rita,
said they would leave again if another storm came. But Morss said this isn't always the case.
"People's minds change after a couple years," when memories of disasters like Katrina fade, she
said.
Related to this are the cases of what Morss calls "hurricane fatigue" that can set in places such as
Florida that are often hit by many hurricanes in one season. People simply get tired of disrupting
their lives and leaving their homes.
Some home and business owners decided to stay behind to protect their property, either from
looters or the storm itself. In the case of looters, Morss said that it is a common fear but not
something that typically happens after a storm. And in the case of fending off the storm's attack,
"there's really not much you can do," she said.
Whether or not Texans and other residents of the Gulf Coast will learn from Ike and obey future
evacuation warnings is anybody's guess.
Problem Statement, Know/Need to Know Boards,
and Possible Resources
Title:
Bay County Citizens Address the Hurricane Emergency Plan
Teacher: Ms. Howard
Primary Sunshine State Standards with Learning Outcomes:
SC.8.N.4.1 Explain that science is one of the processes that can be used to inform
decision making at the community, state, national, and international levels.
Learning Objective 1: Working in groups, students will evaluate how a Geographically
Weighted Regression (GWR)model can be used to account for spatial variations during
an evacuation, examining household income, access to media, and availability of
transportation, providing at least two examples for each area, with 75% accuracy
(Evaluation).
SC.8.N.4.2 Explain how political, social, and economic concerns can affect science, and
vice versa.
Learning Objective 2: Given internet access and 2 class periods, students will work in
groups to research what political, social and economic factors influence people in their
failure to comply with mandatory evacuation and devise at least 2 solutions to
encourage more people to evacuate with 75% accuracy (Analysis).
Outside Subject Area Sunshine State Standards from Language Arts with
Learning Outcome:
LA.8.3.5.1 The student will prepare writing using technology in a format appropriate to
audience and purpose (e.g. manuscript, multimedia)
Learning Objective 3: Given a presentation rubric, the students will prepare a
PowerPoint Show that presents their solutions, with 80% accuracy, according to the
rubric. (Synthesis)
Problem Statement:
How can we, as concerned citizens and emergency response workers, develop a
hurricane evacuation plan that will reach all members of our community, including
those who are not prone to heed the warnings for hurricane evacuation due to
socioeconomic and other factors, in such a way that:
 We develop solutions to present before the deadline.
 We stay within our budget
 We create a solution that is feasible for our county to implement
 We devise a solution that is sustainable
Know Board:
1. We must meet a deadline for the presentation.
2. During Hurricane Katrina, public officials were slow to respond and this had a
direct effect on residents.
3. Tens of thousands of the 500,000 residents of New Orleans did not evacuate.
4. 67.3 % of those who stayed behind were low-income residents.
5. Residents may experience “Hurricane Fatigue”.
6. Residents may not evacuate because they do not have the financial means.
7. Residents who have “ridden out” previous storms may not perceive a high risk.
8. Sectors of the population who may not be informed are the hearing impaired,
those who only speak a foreign language and those who are isolated from
others.
Need to Know Board:
1. What are some of the means successfully used in other counties to reach those
who do not heed warnings?
2. What percentages of residents of Bay County are considered low-income?
3. How many people in Bay County are hearing impaired?
4. How many people in Bay County do not have access to transportation?
5. What social factors of Bay County residents may influence the decision of
residents to comply with mandatory evacuation?
6. What area of the population, according to the Geographically Weighted
Regression model, should be the focus in the solution?
7. What is the capacity of the current Hurricane Shelters in Bay County?
8. Does the county have translators available for residents who speak only a foreign
language?
9. What short term impacts might occur due to people failing to evacuate?
10. What long term impacts might occur due to people failing to evacuate?
11. Could what happened in New Orleans happen here?
Resources:
Video:
Wjhg.com. May 23, 2012,.The Time to Prepare for Hurricanes Is Now. Chris Smith.
Books:
Pielke, Roger A. (1997) Hurricanes: Their Nature & Impacts on Society. Wiley. ISBN 0415954878
Hartman, Chester & Squires, Gregory. (2006) There is No Such Thing as a Natural
Disaster: Race, Class, and Katrina. Routledge. ISBN – 0415954878.
Human Resources:
Robert Pearce, Executive Director, The American Red Cross, 430 E. 15th Street, Panama
City, FL Phone (850)763-6587, Fax (850) 785-3995, http://www.redcrosscpc.org/
Websites:
http://www.census.gov/
Articles:
Hurricane Katrina Crisis
http://www.sc.edu/katrinacrisis/elder.shtml
People's Racial Biases Can Skew Perceptions of How Much Help Victims Need
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100112121948.htm
The Holdouts
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2008/09/11/the-holdouts.html
Capstone Performance
Teacher:
Title:
Primary Subject Area:
Outside Subject Area:
Class and Level:
Grade: Level:
Ms. Howard
Community Members Address the Hurricane Emergency Plan
Science
Language Arts
Science (Advanced)
8th Grade
Primary Sunshine State Standards with Learning Outcomes:
SC.8.N.4.1 Explain that science is one of the processes that can be used to inform
decision making at the community, state, national, and international levels.
Learning Objective 1: Working in groups, students will evaluate how a Geographically
Weighted Regression (GWR)model can be used to account for spatial variations during
an evacuation, examining household income, access to media, and availability of
transportation, providing at least two examples for each area, with 75% accuracy
(Evaluation).
SC.8.N.4.2 Explain how political, social, and economic concerns can affect science, and
vice versa.
Learning Objective 2: Given internet access and 2 class periods, students will work in
groups to research what political, social and economic factors influence people in their
failure to comply with mandatory evacuation and devise at least 2 solutions to
encourage more people to evacuate with 75% accuracy (Analysis).
Outside Subject Area Sunshine State Standards from Language Arts with
Learning Outcome:
LA.8.3.5.1 The student will prepare writing using technology in a format appropriate to
audience and purpose (e.g. manuscript, multimedia)
Learning Objective 3: Given a presentation rubric, the students will prepare a
PowerPoint Show that presents their solutions, with 80% accuracy, according to the
rubric. (Synthesis)
Description of Student Roles and Problem Situation:
With hurricane season fast approaching, the students assume of the roles of community
members and Emergency Response Workers. They will be evaluating effective
solutions to reach the population that does not heed evacuation warnings and
presenting their findings to the Bay County Emergency Management Team.
Problem Statement:
How can we, as concerned citizens and emergency response workers, develop a
hurricane evacuation plan that will reach all members of our community, including
those who are not prone to heed the warnings for hurricane evacuation due to
socioeconomic and other factors, in such a way that:
 We develop solutions to present before the deadline.
 We stay within our budget
 We create a solution that is feasible for our county to implement
 We devise a solution that is sustainable
CAPSTONE PERFORMANCE DESCRIPTION:
The capstone performance consists of two parts: an individual report and a group
presentation. Individual students will be assessed on both of these parts using two
different rubrics. Students are given the rubrics prior to the start of the project. Each
student will have 15 minutes to give their individual presentation, using their choice of
media and/or visual aids. Students are given two weeks to develop their reports and
prepare for the oral presentation. They will hand in their reports May25, 2012, after
performing the presentations. Students will dress as business professionals on this day.
For the individual report, students will be assigned the role of either a either a
concerned resident or an emergency response worker. Each student must describe two
feasible solutions to the problem and then provide at least four justifications for why
he/she is recommending one over the other. The team will read each other’s reports
and vote on a ‘best solution’.
For the oral presentation, the class will be divided into 5 groups of four. There may be
more than one of each group, depending on class size. Each student will present his
own best solution and then provide one justification for the team’s best solution.
A group of parents and school administrators will play the roles of the Emergency
Management Team. They will also fulfill the roles of the special guests: the Mayor of
Panama City and members of the Bay County Chamber of Commerce. These special
guests will be prepared to ask questions of the students. The room will be arranged
with the two teams in the front of the classroom at tables, with access to a podium and
a chalkboard, a projector, a screen, etc. The Emergency Management team will be
facing the front of the room. The special guests will be seated at tables behind them,
with student desks at the rear of the classroom.
Student autonomy is incorporated as the individual student decides which solution they
will present during the group presentation and can plan how they will present it, using
their choice of media or visual aids. Metacognition occurs as each student will complete
a “reflection” questionnaire after the group presentation.
Room Arrangment
Chalkboard with Screen
Podium
Members of the Emergency Management Team
Special Guest Seating
Special Guest Seating
Students Desks
Rubric for Assessing the Capstone Performance
Criteria
Content
Accuracy
Alignment
to Problem
Statement
Report Rubric
Superior
Adequate
15 points
10 points
All science
Scientific
information and
information and
calculations are
calculations are
100% accurate.
accurate 90% or
more of the time.
10 points
Each solution must
align with all
conditions stated
in the problem
statement
Required
30 points
Components Report must
contain
a) The group’s
problem
statement
b) A written
explanation of
how the
Geographicall
y Weighted
Regression
(GWR), was
used to
determine
both of the
solutions.
c) The student
will correctly
explain at
6 points
One solutions
aligns with all
conditions; the
other aligns with all
but one condition
20 points
The report contains
a) A written
explanation of
how the
Geographicall
y Weighted
Regression
(GWR), was
used to
determine one
of the
solutions.
b) The student
will correctly
explain at
least 1
political, 1
social, and
1economic
Poor
5 points
Scientific
information
and
calculations
are less than
90%
accurate.
3 points
Neither
solution
aligns with
all conditions
10 points
The report
contains less
information
than listed in
the
“Adequate”
category.
Mechanics
least 2
political, 2
social, and 2
economic
factors that
influences
whether or
not people
heed
evacuation
warnings, and
will include 2
individual
solutions to
encourage
more people
to evacuate.
d) Two different
solutions
(these don’t
have to be
exact
opposites)
e) Four reasons
for choosing
one solution
over another
5 points
Report contains no
grammatical errors
(spelling,
capitalization,
punctuation,
subject/verb
agreement)
factor that
influences
whether or not
people heed
evacuation
warnings, and
will include 2
individual
solutions to
encourage
more people
to evacuate.
c)
Two different
solutions
(these don’t
have to be
exact
opposites)
d) Three reasons
for choosing
one solution
over another
3 points
Report contains 2-3
grammatical errors.
Scoring Guide
A
50-60
F 0-19
0 points
Report
contains
more than 3
grammatical
errors.
B
C
D
40-49
30-39
20-29
Criteria
Delivery
Comprehension
and Accuracy
Quality of
Individual
Solution
Explanation
Oral Presentation Rubric
Superior
Adequate
30 points
20 points
Maintains eye
Maintains eye
contact with
contact with
audience 90%
audience over
or more of the
80% of the time
time;
(but less than
fluctuations in
90%); 1-2 nonvolume and
purposeful
inflection are
movements;
intended and
volume is loud
add to clarity of enough to be
presentation;
heard in the
no nonback of the
purposeful
room 80-89% of
movement;
the time.
volume is loud
enough to be
heard in back of
room 90% or
more of the
time.
30 points
20 points
Student
Student
answered a
answered a
question from
question from
the special
the special
guests
guests
correctly,
correctly,
providing at
providing at
least 2
least 1
accurate
accurate
scientific facts
scientific fact
20 points
12 points
Individual
Solution aligns
solution aligns
with all but one
to all conditions condition
Poor
10 points
Eye contact is
less than 80%;
more than 2
non-purposeful
movements;
inaudible in
back of room
more than 20%
of the time.
10 points
Student failed
to answer
question
correctly or
could not
provide a
scientific fact
5 points
Solution fails to
align with 2 or
more conditions
Quality of
Individual
Justification
Explanation
in group
problem
statement
10 points
Reasons given
for advocating
the groups
“best solution”
are sustainable,
able to be
implemented in
our county, and
fiscally feasible
Use of Multimedia
5 points
Two or more
types of media
were used
during the
presentation,
with no more
than one
technical error.
Reflection
5 points
Student
answers all 5
reflection
questions
10 points
Reasons given
for advocating
the group’s
“best solution”
is sustainable,
able to be
implemented in
our county, but
may not be
fiscally
feasible.
3 points
One type of
multi-media
was used
during the
presentation,
with no more
than two
technical
errors.
3 points
Student
answers 4 of
the reflection
questions
Score Conversion Chart
A
B
C
D
F
88-100
74-87
60-73
50-59
Less than 50
5 points
Reasons given
for advocating
the group’s
“best solution”
are sustainable,
but not able to
be implemented
in our county,
and are not
fiscally
sustainable.
0 points
Multi-media
was not used
during the
presentation, or
too many
technical errors
detracted from
the
presentation.
0 points
Student
answers less
than 4
reflection
questions
Two Alternative Solutions and “Best” Solution Analysis
Teacher:
Title:
Primary Subject Area:
Outside Subject Area:
Class and Level:
Grade: Level:
Ms. Howard
Community Members Address the Hurricane Emergency Plan
Science
Language Arts
Science (Advanced)
8th Grade
Primary Sunshine State Standards with Learning Outcomes:
SC.8.N.4.1 Explain that science is one of the processes that can be used to inform
decision making at the community, state, national, and international levels.
Learning Objective 1: Working in groups, students will evaluate how a Geographically
Weighted Regression (GWR)model can be used to account for spatial variations during
an evacuation, examining household income, access to media, and availability of
transportation, providing at least two examples for each area, with 75% accuracy
(Evaluation).
SC.8.N.4.2 Explain how political, social, and economic concerns can affect science, and
vice versa.
Learning Objective 2: Given internet access and 2 class periods, students will work in
groups to research what political, social and economic factors influence people in their
failure to comply with mandatory evacuation and devise at least 2 solutions to
encourage more people to evacuate with 75% accuracy (Analysis).
Outside Subject Area Sunshine State Standards from Language Arts with
Learning Outcome:
LA.8.3.5.1 The student will prepare writing using technology in a format appropriate to
audience and purpose (e.g. manuscript, multimedia)
Learning Objective 3: Given a presentation rubric, the students will prepare a
PowerPoint Show that presents their solutions, with 80% accuracy, according to the
rubric. (Synthesis)
Description of Student Roles and Problem Situation:
With hurricane season fast approaching, the students assume of the roles of community
members and Emergency Response Workers. They will be evaluating effective
solutions to reach the population that does not heed evacuation warnings and
presenting their findings to the Bay County Emergency Management Team.
Problem Statement:
How can we, as concerned citizens and emergency response workers, develop a
hurricane evacuation plan that will reach all members of our community, including
those who are not prone to heed the warnings for hurricane evacuation due to
socioeconomic and other factors, in such a way that:
 We develop solutions to present before the deadline.
 We stay within our budget
 We create a solution that is feasible for our county to implement
 We devise a solution that is sustainable
Solution One:
One possible solution provided by the emergency workers and citizens is the formation
of a committee to go door-to-door, before the start of hurricane season, to the target
population and design a one-on-one evacuation plan for each household. This plan will
include transportation to a shelter and the household will pre-register to be
automatically picked up by transport during any evacuations. The needed resources
are feasible for the county. The criteria to pre-register will be based on need, such as
low socioeconomic, elderly, or disabled, as shown in the Geographically Weighted
Regression. The budget allows this plan to be in place for to be sustainable for a period
of 1 year.
Pro
This is a comprehensive solution, in that it
covers all the necessary elements to make
sure that residents heed evacuation
warnings.
The pre-registration for evacuation will
ensure those citizens are prepared to leave
the community.
This solution ensures that each and every
needy member, as determined by the
GWR model, of the community will be
contacted.
Current County school buses will be used
for transportation, eliminating the need to
purchase transport vehicles.
Con
Not every target home may be reached
before the first hurricane.
Some people who do not qualify as needy
based on the GWR may feel that they
should also be eligible to pre-register.
It will be costly to implement this plan,
depleting the budget in one year.
Some people may still refuse to evacuate,
those rendering the project ineffective.
Consequences:
1. To support the continued cost of Solution One, the taxpayers will be forced to
pay higher taxes. This may contribute to opposing sides within the community.
2. The population who has been unable to evacuate in the past, due to financial
constraints or physical disabilities, will now have the opportunity to safely leave the
area.
Solution Two:
Another possible solution is an awareness campaign that includes the following: a mass
distribution of fliers by mail that include emergency contact information to be used
during evacuations, a series of radio spots on local stations, and billboards on main
highways. This can be accomplished before the start of hurricane season, with
minimum funding. The solution presents itself as sustainable for a period of 6 years,
within the current budget. This plan is very feasible for the county to put into action.
Pros
This can be implemented quickly.
The community has the available
resources to implement this plan.
This plan reaches all community members,
not just those determined by the GWR.
This plan will contribute to preventing
unnecessary loss of life.
Con
Everyone in the community may not be
reached, especially those who meet the
criteria of the target group.
The impact of this project may not be
strong enough to encourage people to
heed evacuations
This does not address transportation
needs.
During an actual evacuation, there is no
system to confirm who has evacuated and
who has not.
Consequences:
1. A large section of the population will be informed of what measures to take
during an evacuation, reducing the loss unnecessary loss of life, without putting
a burden on the taxpayers.
2. The time and money required for rescue and recovery efforts will be minimized.
Justification:
Best solution: Solution two. This solution will reach a large portion of the population
who might not otherwise be reached. It is cost effective for the community. The
current budget will allow for the project to be sustainable for the next six years. The
residents and emergency workers have made a plan to hold an annual fundraiser once
a year prior to hurricane season to raise money for future years. Studies have shown
that radio, mail, and signs are an effective way to notifying people of what to do if a
evacuation is ordered. The awareness campaign will help guard against “Hurricane
Fatigue”, a syndrome often seen in Floridians who have experienced multiple
hurricanes. With 80% of Florida’s residents choosing to live in one of the state’s coastal
counties, the campaign will lead to more hurricane preparation by individuals, which
minimizes the input required by the local authorities.
In contrast, Solution One is unrealistic due to financial constraints. Composing a
committee to go door-to-door is not financially feasible in the long-term. An updated
list of the population will be difficult to maintain. The community would need to come
up with additional money in the budget to purchase more transport vehicles, putting a
burden on taxpayers. Not only is this solution impractical to get off the ground, it is not
sustainable.
Some will argue that the proposed awareness campaign doesn’t do enough to persuade
people to evacuate. However, although loss of life should be the goal at any costs, the
final decision to leave is ultimately up to the individual. Therefore, a cost effective plan
is best suited to the community.
Debriefing Plan and Coaching Questions
Debriefing Plan:
All teams of concerned residents and emergency response workers will make
presentations to the Emergency Management Team in the presence of all other teams.
In this way, all students will hear all possible solutions. The teacher will act as scribe
and record the characteristics of each proposed “best solution”. These characteristics
will be provided to all students on the day of class following the presentation. The
students will use the handout to help complete a Debriefing Form for rating the
solutions (Attached at end of document). The teacher will tally the forms.
The two solutions receiving the highest scores will then be examined in a whole class
session. The teacher will ask the class if there is any way to combine the two solutions
to make one “even better” solution. Through class discussion, students will pick “pros”
from all groups to accomplish this.
Five Essential Concepts:
The “best” solutions must utilize accurate research to create an effective plan to
increase hurricane evacuations. This includes explaining how each of the following
areas is related to the solution.
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
The Geographically Weighted Regression must be used in determining the solution.
Technology must be used appropriately in the presentation of the solution.
Solution must take into account political, social, and economic influences.
Solution must meet the demands of the deadline.
Solution must be feasible within the allocated budget.
In order to ensure that these essential concepts are addressed, even if they fail to arise
during student presentations/discussions, the teacher will continually interact with the
students through informal questions. This will enable the teacher to assess each
student’s achievement of the learning outcomes and vary instructional strategies as
needed. The students will also be required to fill out a reflection report at the end of
the PBL, sharing their thoughts about the project.
Coaching Questions:
C- Cognitive
M-Meta-cognitive
E- Epistemic
Type of
Question
C
M
E
C
M
E
C
M
E
C
M
E
C
M
E
Question
Meet the Problem
What are the student roles in this problem?
What do you already know about hurricane evacuation plans?
How realistic is this problem?
Know/Need to Know Board
Where could you go to find our why people don’t evacuate?
How do you know that?
Is it necessary to find the answers to all the “need to know”
questions?
Problem Statement
How long do you have to work on this problem?
Why do you think that is the central issue?
Have you considered the needs of the targeted population in this
problem?
Research
How can you verify you have this?
What are some terms you can “Google” to help you in your search
for a solution to this problem?
What different types of resources can be helpful in solving
problems?
Generating Possible Solutions
What are the strengths of other possible solutions? The
weaknesses?
How did the group arrive at Solution One?
Do you think this solution is applicable to the real world?
Rating the Solutions
Group # Pro
total
3 Pros
Capture each “pro” in brief. Put the
rating of the “pro” beside it.
Con
total
3 Cons
Capture each “con” in brief. Put
the rating of the “con” beside it.
Subtract the “con” total
from the “pro” total and
record. (This could be a
negative number.)
1
2
3
4
5
“Pro” Rating Scale
1 Good basic idea, but would need extensive revision before it would be workable.
3 I’m cautiously optimistic about how this will work—I see at least 1 area that may
be problematic.
adopted this plan.
5 Best idea I ever heard—will definitely achieve the goal/solve the prob
“Con” Rating Scale
1 This wouldn’t help solve the problem, but has an easy fix.
3 This wouldn’t help solve the problem, and would take major revision.
5 This is a killer—I see a major flaw that would definitely result in failing to solve the problem if we