Comments on: Coal Mine Safety: Whose Responsibility? http://expertvoices.nsdl.org/connectingnews/2007/11/28/coal-mine-safety-whose-responsibility/ The NSDL Middle School Portal is hosting this blog to encourage teachers to use current events as teaching opportunities. Every Thursday, MSP staff will link a current news article to related teaching resources that connect specific content standards to that event. Articles may be appropriate for students to read directly, or they may serve as background knowledge for teachers and inspiration for subsequent instructional activities. The related middle level, grades 5-8 content standards of the National Science Education Standards are included as well as ideas for turning the news event into an inquiry-based lesson. Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:52:21 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: mhenton http://expertvoices.nsdl.org/connectingnews/2007/11/28/coal-mine-safety-whose-responsibility/#comment-5384 mhenton Tue, 07 Apr 2009 16:12:30 +0000 http://expertvoices.nsdl.org/connectingnews/2007/11/28/coal-mine-safety-whose-responsibility/#comment-5384 This topic holds tremendous potential for connecting with other subjects, including language arts, writing, art, social studies. Things that come immediately to mind are the role of coal mining in the U.S. and in other parts of the world. How did the discovery of coal and development of coal mines contribute to growth of towns and then later to their decline? What about the culture of "mining towns"? Do coal mines and mining practices differ across the globe, not only in the technological aspect, but the social aspect? From an art standpoint, there is a rich history of music coming from the mining experience, both in the U.S. and abroad. The South African group, Ladysmith Black Mambazo (http://www.mambazo.com/biography.html) emerged as a social group out of the South African diamond mines. This topic holds tremendous potential for connecting with other subjects, including language arts, writing, art, social studies. Things that come immediately to mind are the role of coal mining in the U.S. and in other parts of the world. How did the discovery of coal and development of coal mines contribute to growth of towns and then later to their decline? What about the culture of “mining towns”? Do coal mines and mining practices differ across the globe, not only in the technological aspect, but the social aspect?

From an art standpoint, there is a rich history of music coming from the mining experience, both in the U.S. and abroad. The South African group, Ladysmith Black Mambazo (http://www.mambazo.com/biography.html) emerged as a social group out of the South African diamond mines.

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