The numbers are staggering, especially in states like California, Texas and Florida. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 10 percent of the United States school population fall under this category and are classified as English Language Learners. ELL’s are English Language Learners that are primarily students who have difficulties in mastering English Language skills, and whose first language is another language other than English. Who are the affected in the process? How can real alternatives facilitate the painful academic situations caused as a result of the aftermath? Puerto Rican students in Central Florida are now part of the nation’s rising ELL population. It is like accommodating a family of ten in a studio apartment. Schools have received the new and incoming students with underfunded budgets and have made ends meet, pun intended, with what they had for the current academic school year (2017-2018). School Districts have turned to the State Government for a revamping of their budgets. Classrooms have become overpopulated, and new teacher hires are floating from one classroom to another. Thousands of students have enrolled in Central Florida schools, particularly in Osceola and Orange Counties. The education aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Central Florida is still not totally clear. But the greatest challenge has been to register them in schools in the area and facilitate their academic language learning needs at the speed of lightning. Puerto Ricans in Florida, non-profit organizations, government officials, lawmakers, schools and churches have worked hard to find them homes, jobs, social services and make them feel at home. Thousands lost their homes, and many were left with the decision of whether to stay on the Island and suffer severe living conditions or make their way to Florida where more than 1,000,000 people of Puerto Rican origin had already accommodated themselves. In the blink of an eye, millions of Puerto Ricans were left without water and electricity. Depending on how much time you give students to design and build (and possibly rebuild), this activity could be completed in as little as half an hour or up to an hour or more.On September 20th, Hurricane Maria came in and out of The Island of Puerto Rico with devastating force. If there is time after testing, which can be observational or framed as a contest between teams, students can redesign their towers to improve their performance, or simply discuss what worked well and what didn’t in their designs. This is also an opportunity to discuss how there are often different ways to solve the same problem. After the towers are built, the group comes together to test them. For an extra challenge, a spray bottle can be used to simulate rain. Students are given simple materials and design requirements, and must plan out and build a tower as tall as possible that will hold up a tennis ball while resisting the force of wind from a fan. The idea is to present a real-world problem, designing buildings for hurricane-prone areas, but in a simulated way that works in a classroom, after school club, or informal education setting. It can be done by students of all ages, although upper elementary school and above is best. This activity is a short engineering design challenge that can be completed by individual students or small teams.
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