Project Overview

Third grade students at World of Inquiry, School #58 created this set of cards as part of an expedition on natural disasters called “Earth, Wind and Fire.”

During their exploration of natural disasters, students visited the American Red Cross to see how they respond to disaster and the Rochester Museum and Science Center to learn more about weather.

To create their card, each student researched and wrote a descriptive summary on a specific natural event. Students used a rubric to help structure their summary; each of which includes the name of the event, where it happened, the amount of damage, the intensity, death toll, injuries and cool facts. Students also created accompanying drawings using colored pencils and oil pastels. Once their summary and artwork was complete, students used the computer program Comic Life to combine their work into a professional, high-quality card.

This format taps into student interest in collecting cards and playing games. It also allows each student to have a copy of their peers’ work, which is not the case when students create individual reports for a teacher audience.

The cards can be purchased from the school. All proceeds will go to The American Red Cross.