Morgan County High School students were clearly engaged as the chaotic accident scene moved their classroom learning experience into reality.
The disaster, portraying an automobile accident resulting in severe injuries, was a project based culminating event of a four-month study orchestrated by Morgan County High School physics teacher Miranda Farmer. The students had been studying the kinematics of physics, velocity, acceleration, energy, and momentum in their AP physics class. Kentucky State Police Detective Toby Gardner worked with the students on accident reconstruction, providing a real world experience of their studies.
It was like a scene out of a horror movie and the students couldn’t take their eyes off of the outdoor classroom activities. Members of the rescue squad used the jaws-of-life to extricate a trapped victim as ambulances and police scrambled to the site. An unconscious pedestrian lay bleeding beside the road.
The rescued victims were transported to the MCHS nursing classes mock hospital room where trauma, emotions, and stress fed the excitement. Patient management, record keeping, treatment techniques and CPR were simultaneously in motion.
A student team recorded the event with iPads, iPods, and cameras with the goal of producing instructional videos, and reporting the event for the local newspaper.
The project involved the whole community including the local rescue squad, ambulance service, and fire department. More importantly it involved learning on all fronts at the school. Students from Health, Nursing, AP Physics, Spanish (one witness was Spanish speaking), Law and Justice, English, Art, and the SADD club all participated.
We are expecting a ruling from the mock trial being held later this month. We will let you know who it assigned fault and how the students conclude this dramatic learning project.
