September 11, 2001 A Remembrance

On the thirteenth anniversary of September 11, 2001 the Beacon Team spent time learning about and reflecting on the terrible events of that day.  This year, most of our students were born after the tragic events of September 11, 2001.  We invite you to join us in remembering the important moment in the history of our nation.

In Social Studies:

Students reflected upon one of two questions at the start of class.

• Why do we remember tragic events in our history? Explain.
• In your opinion, are there any lessons to be learned from what happened on September 11, 2001? Explain.      

Students then watched a CNN Student News report in which September 11, 2001 was featured heavily as well as other acts of terrorism, past and present.

Following the student news report, we reflected in small groups upon what we already knew about the events of 9/11 and what we learned today in school.

Students finished class by reflecting on the following prompt.

• Choose one of the following images from September 11, 2001 and explain why it is powerful.

In Science:
Students were introduced to the geology of Manhattan, N.Y., its topography, and how Lower Manhattan was reclaimed from the ocean.  Underneath the city and in Central Park there is Manhattan schist which is the bedrock, a type of metamorphic rock capable of withstanding the immense weight of the Twin Towers skyscraper.  

Students discussed how the skyscrapers were built, learned what a slurry wall is and how that was essential to the support of the buildings and bedrock beneath it.

Students compared and contrasted images of Manhattan from 1609 & 2009 and discussed the process of reclaiming land from the ocean.

Arturo Recci Designer of the Slurry Wall

Twin Towers Being Constructed 

In Journalism and Media:
As our Warm Up, students responded to the prompt, "What words  come to mind when they hear "9/11."

Students shared their words and thoughts with the class, as we discussed this touchstone date in America's history. Students shared words such as powerful, crumbling, family, destruction, freedom, and learning.

We then watched the following video about Philippe Petit and his amazing feat of walking a tightrope between the Twin Towers:

The class wrapped up with a reflection on "What is the impact on the world when an event like this occurs?"

Powerful student answers included:

"The world gets wary of things."
"There is sadness in the world."
"The society will never be the same and never forget what happened."
"People become stronger and more alive as a result."