Virtual Reality Meets Real Life
Once the Scarboro South Nuclear Power Plant was completed in February, the
teachers had considerable latitude in
how and when they could implement
the challenge. But, as fate would have
it, real life had plans of its own.
On March 11, 2011, a powerful
earthquake struck off the coast of Japan. The earthquake spurred a 46-foot
tsunami that, one hour later, breeched
the seawall at the Fukushima Daiichi
nuclear power plant located 150 miles
northeast of Tokyo. The raging waters
overwhelmed the backup power and
cooling systems at the plant, leading
to one of the worst disasters in the history of the nuclear power industry.
When the disaster struck, Brenda
Gelinas, an AP chemistry teacher
at Downingtown East High School,
immediately revised her implementation of the RWNC to incorporate the
events unfolding in Japan. She challenged her students to act as a team
of nuclear energy experts tasked with
determining the implications of the
Fukushima Daiichi disaster on the
future of nuclear power generation
in the United States.
“I’ve decided to take advantage of
the teachable moment with what is go-
ing on in Japan,” Gelinas said. “I’m re-
ally excited about it! While the events
in Japan are terrible, they do provide a
wonderful backdrop for this project.”
The students’ engagement, both
with the unit and with current events,
soared. When news reporters covering
the Fukushima disaster discussed the
growing danger posed by the exposed
spent fuel cooling pools, and the struc-
ture and safety features of a nuclear
power plant became headline news, stu-
dents in the RWNC could relate
because they had already spent time in
the Scarboro South plant and witnessed
the virtual equivalent of the disaster.
Hands-On Learning
As would be expected in any good
PBL experience, each implementation
of the RWNC varied significantly, requiring the students to assume control
of their learning.
Students formed teams to attack different aspects of the problem, including alternative energy, possible evacuation, past events, nuclear radiation,
and radiation sickness. Real-life nuclear engineers visited the classrooms
to explain nuclear power generation
and to answer questions. The students
engaged in brainstorming activities,
collaborative research, debate, data
analysis, and, finally, consensus building with a goal of determining implications for nuclear power generation
in the United States.
Each student’s avatar wore a virtual
dosimeter that kept track of accumulated exposure to radiation. They
recorded violations and safety hazards
in their virtual notebooks as they
inspected the plant, using checklists
provided by the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission. They also recorded
their experiences in their journals
and through video.
At the end of the program, teams
of students presented their findings
to their classmates and teachers, and
one group reported on their experience to their district’s school board
members.
In addition to the class presentations,
the students were evaluated on the
quality of their journal entries and the
sophistication of their problem-solving
skills. They were assessed on several
