WEB QUEST

EVANDER CHILDS HIGH SCHOOL, SCIENCE DEPARTMENT

The World Trade Center in New York City was a complex of several buildings around a central plaza, near the foot of Manhattan; three of the original buildings were destroyed in the September 11, 2001 attacks. It was designed by American architect Minoru Yamasaki with Antonio Britiochi.

The collapse of the massive buildings of the World Trade Center shocked everyone. There were widespread speculations that the buildings were structurally deficient, steel columns melted and fire suppression equipment failed to operate.

In order to qualify the various details of the collapse, we should consider the following major events

• The airplane impact with damage to the columns
• The ensuing fire with loss of steel strength and distortion ( see figure 1)
• The collapse, which generally occurred inward without significant tipping (fig 2 )

( FIGURES 1 & 2 )

AIRPLANE IMPACT: It was noted how well the towers withstood the initial impact as the buildings had more than 1000 times the mass of the aircraft and had been designed to resist steady wind-loads of 30 times the weight of the aircraft

The only individual metal component of the aircraft that is comparable in strength to the columns of the WTC is the keel beam at the bottom of the aircraft fuselage.

Of a greater significance during the initial impact which destroyed several columns in the WTC perimeter wall, was the explosion when 90,000 gallons of jet fuel ignited. The ensuing fire was the principal cause of the collapse.

THE FIRE: It is known that structural steel begins to soften around 425 C, and loses about half of its strength at 650 C. Even with its strength halved, the steel could still support two to three times the stresses imposed by a 650 C fire. But the flames were as hot as 2000 C.

The failure of the steel was due to two factors: loss of strength due to temperature of the fire, and loss of structural integrity due to distortion of the steel from the non-uniform temperatures in the fire.

THE COLLAPSE: We know that every large building has a redundant design that allows for loss of one structural member, such as a column. When multiple members fail, the shifting loads eventually overstress the adjacent members and the collapse occurs like a row of dominoes falling down.

The perimeter tube design of the WTC survived the loss of several exterior columns due to aircraft impact, but the ensuing fire led to other steel failures

CHILDREN AND WTC DISASTER: It is recorded that children experience a variety of reactions and feelings in response to a disaster and need special attention to meet their needs.

In coping with a National tragedy, it is necessary to address topics that affect children namely:

• Coping with terrorism
• Promoting tolerance
• Recognizing severe trauma reaction
• Managing anger and preventing suicide
• Helping with special needs .

Though we try to protect children from death and loss, children experience a range of losses even in childhood, the WTC disaster notwithstanding.

Helping young people overcome emotional problems in the wake of violence or disaster is one of the most important challenges a parent, teacher, or mental health professional can face.

Regents Chancellor Carl T. Hayden and State Education Commissioner Richard Mills issued guidance on school safety planning for terrorism, respect for differences, and crisis counseling in response to requests from schools across the State.

What will a parent , teacher or other caring adult do when disasters such as the ones that befell the WTC arise?

It is not always easy for teachers to know for sure that a student is mourning the loss of a family member or friend, but some signs include:

· A sudden and unexplained absence from school

· Withdrawal from contact with friends and classmates

· Unexpected displays of emotion, such as walking out of class or crying during class.

· Difficulty concentrating.

· A decline in academic performance.

Many children expressed their own feelings of love, fear, anger, hope and determination as shown in the diagrams by children shown below

Your job in this web quest will be as advisor to the Department of Education of this problem ---- how national tragedies affect children. You will do research to define, gather evidence for and find causes for this problem. You will also evaluate the Public Policy that presently exists and make recommendations for change. The Department of Education is impatiently waiting for your answers. Your research could save the traumatic experiences and psychological disorders of thousands if school children. You have a daunting task. GOOD LUCK!

Your objectives will be:

(A) You will write a 2-3 page research paper using MS Word.

(B) Your paper will show the research you have done using the “ worksheets. This will be described in the process.

Each student is responsible for a completed paper although work will be done in groups. Along with the six step PPA-------

Your paper should also address the following

· Examine the events that led to the collapse of WTC

· Describe the effects that the WTC disaster had on children

· Explain how the affected children including those who lost loved ones should be handled.

1. Break into your groups of four

2. Check on the hyperlink in the resource section to conduct your research

3. You should also use outside sources and text material for your research.

4. Complete all the worksheets on the TIPS site below

5. Use the Internet resources to complete the worksheets

6. Use these worksheets as part of your resource material to complete the task

FOLLOW THE PUBLIC POLICY ANALYST

By using the hyperlinks below

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10 Your 3 page paper will include answers to the SPPA listed above as well as addressing the questions in the “ TASK”

Read through the website given below to familiarize yourself with the SPPA. Use varied sources to prove your conclusions. You may use surveys, statistics, interviews, expert opinions and case studies as “ INFORMATION TOOLS”

http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/tips.html

1 http://www.fenichel.com/hopetree.shtml

2 http://www.twocupsofjoy.com/worldtradecenter.html

3 http://www.fenichel.com/hope.shtml

4. http://www.omh.state.ny.us/omhweb/crisis/crisiscounseling3.htm

5. http://www.nasponline.org/NEAT/crisis_0911.html

6.http://www.pbs.org/wnet/onourownterms/articles/children.html

7. http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/violence.cfm

8. http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/violence.cfm

9. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/onourownterms/articles/teacher2.html

10.http://msnbc.msn.com/?id=3053419&oldUrl=http://www.msnbc.com/ filenotfound.asp

11. http://www.projectliberty.state.ny.us/DOE/NYCschools.pdf

GENERAL INFORMATION WEBSITES

1. www.google.ccm

2. www.yahoo.com

3. www.askjeeves.com

YOU WILL BE EVALUATED ACCORDING TO THE FOLLOWING RUBRIC:

Name: ________________________

Teacher: Dr. Eric Austin

Criteria

Points

	4	3	2	1
Introduction/ Topic	Student(s) properly generate questions and or problems around a topic.	Student(s) generate questions and or problems.	Student(s) require prompts to generate questions and or problems.	Questions or problems are teacher generated.	____
Conclusions Reached	Numerous detailed conclusions are reached from the evidence offered.	Several detailed conclusions are reached from the evidence offered.	Some detailed conclusions are reached from the evidence offered.	A conclusion is made from the evidence offered.	____
Use of PPA	All the PPA steps are used	Few PPA steps are used	Only about two PPA steps are used	One PPA step is used	____
Organization of paper	Well organized, demonstrates logical sequencing and sentence structure.	Well organized, but demonstrates illogical sequencing or sentence structure.	Well organized, but demonstrates illogical sequencing and sentence structure.	Weakly organized.	____
Punctuation, Capitalization, & Spelling	Punctuation and capitalization are correct.	There is one error in punctuation and/or capitalization.	There are two or three errors in punctuation and/or capitalization.	There are four or more errors in punctuation and/or capitalization.	____
				Total---->	____

A=18-20 POINTS B=14-17 POINTS C=10-13 POINTS F=Below 10 points

ANSWER THIS FIRST: “DID YOUR PAPER MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN BETTERING OUR SOCIETY?”

Teacher Comments:

New York State Learning Standards

SCIENCE

Standard 1: Analysis, Inquiry, and Design

Students will use mathematical analysis, scientific inquiry, and engineering design, as appropriate, to pose questions, seek answers, and develop solutions.

Standard 2: Information Systems

Students will access, generate, process, and transfer information using appropriate technologies.

Standard 4: Science

Students will understand and apply scientific concepts, principles, and theories pertaining to the physical setting and living environment and recognize the historical development of ideas in science.

English Language Arts

Standard 1: Language for Information and Understanding

Students will listen, speak, read, and write for information and understanding. As listeners and readers, students will collect data, facts, and ideas; discover relationships, concepts, and generalizations; and use knowledge generated from oral, written, and electronically produced texts. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to acquire, interpret, apply, and transmit information

Standard 3:  Language for Critical Analysis and Evaluation

Students will listen, speak, read, and write for critical analysis and evaluation. As listeners and readers, students will analyze experiences, ideas, information, and issues presented by others using a variety of established criteria. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to present, from a variety of perspectives, their opinions and judgments on experiences, ideas, information and issues.

By completing this Web quest, you should have learned:

· About WTC disaster and its effects on school children

· How to handle school children during a National Tragedy

· The SPPA process

· The importance of a “ Public Policy Analyst” in our democratic society