Summer program for teachers to cover lessons of Chernobyl

A UW–Madison summer course will examine the impact of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear meltdown, a medical and environmental catastrophe that still smolders in Eastern Europe.

The course, offered by the Wisconsin Teacher Enhancement Program in Biology, will be held June 15-19 at Science House, 1645 Linden Drive. The course is open to both middle- and high-school science teachers and to the general public.

Good science teaching can’t be done in a vacuum. This course will give teachers the tools to teach this in science classes, but also engage students in issues that go beyond science. Michael Patrick WisTEB Co-director

Opening the course will be Oksana Garnets, director of the Kiev, Ukraine, coordinating office for Unesco. A special public lecture will also be given by Yuryi Shcherbak, Ukrainian ambassador to the United States.

Michael Patrick, co-director of WisTEB, says the Chernobyl disaster offers a “teachable moment” for science classrooms. The complex subject matter makes it hard to approach, but the real-world impact of the disaster provides a powerful science teaching opportunity, he says.

“Good science teaching can’t be done in a vacuum,” Patrick says. “This course will give teachers the tools to teach this in science classes, but also engage students in issues that go beyond science.”

The course will provide equal parts scientific background, on issues such as nuclear power and radioactivity, and the medical, social and political fallout from the tragedy.

Chernobyl has faded from headlines, but its long-term health effects are only beginning to be understood. Unusually high rates of cancer and birth defects have surfaced in the region, and the younger generation could face a lifetime of serious health problems.

The accident released an estimated 50 tons of radioactive material, forcing the evacuation of about 1 million people from regions in Ukraine, Belarus and western Russia. Ukrainian officials claim the radioactive fallout affected the health of an estimated 3.5 million people.

Norma Berkowitz, emeritus UW–Madison professor of social work, is credited with the initial idea for the course. Berkowitz is national chair of the humanitarian aid group Friends of Chernobyl Centers U.S.

Berkowitz and pediatrics Professor Lewis Leavitt will cover the psychological and social issues of the disaster. Other professors speaking are Michael Corradini, nuclear engineering; Kelly Clifton, oncology; David Tarr and Mark Beissinger, political science; Elizabeth Hachten, UW-Whitewater history department; and David Marples, the University of Alberta political science department.

The WisTEB program, founded in 1983, makes UW–Madison’s science expertise available to middle- and high-school science teachers. It has served more than 2,500 teachers by offering unique opportunities for classroom enrichment.

The Center for Russian, East European and Central Asian Studies is also sponsoring the course. For more information, contact program coordinator Ruth Owens at (608) 262-1006.