Teacher's notes for chernobyl pack
1. The material in this pack, which was originally intended for inclusion in our forthcoming pack on energy issues, but which we feel is aimed at a different group of pupils and a different set of disciplines, is suitable for fifth and sixth year pupils. The images in the DVD, which is a powerful and moving interpretation of the events and aftermath of the Chernobyl accident, may be disturbing to younger pupils and the film is primarily aimed at an adult audience. We see this pack as appealing primarily to teachers of English and Media Studies, although it need not be limited to these disciplines. In particular, the booklet on Chernobyl and the material from the World Health Organisation and from TORCH (see below) will also be of interest to teachers of Modern Studies.
2. The two poems are reprinted, with the kind permission of the poet, from Mario Petrucci's Heavy Water: a Poem for Chernobyl, published by Enitharmon Press. Heavy Water was inspired by the book Voices from Chernobyl by Svetlana Alexievich, (translated by Antonina Bouis, published by Aurum Press) which records interviews with the survivors of Chernobyl.
Copies of Heavy Water may be ordered from Enitharmon Press or direct from the poet
3. The DVD Heavy Water: A Film for Chernobyl has been produced by Seventh Arts productions. Further copies may be ordered from them (contact details on DVD cover).
4. Some background material on the accident at Chernobyl may be advisable as an introduction to the poem and is provided in the accompanying booklet, which was compiled ten years after the event. Also helpful to understanding the poems is the information that the slabs for the 'sarcophagus' around Ukritye were put up with the help of helicopters and robots and the haste in constructing it is said to be a cause of the cracks which have developed in it (See Voices from Chernobyl, p.2).
5. Detailed Questions, which have been discussed with the poet, and Notes on these are included with the text of the poems. It is hoped that these provide sufficient material on which to base a lesson on the poems.
6. The DVD Heavy Water is a visual interpretation of the text of the full-length poem and includes readings of several of the interlinked poems which make up the full text, including the two included in this pack. The DVD could be used in a number of ways: as a follow-on from (or preparation for) a lesson on the poems in the pack - i.e. as illustrative material; as a means of exploring how texts of this kind might be realised in visual (and audio) images - an approach particularly suitable for media studies; as the focus of a debate on the relative impact of factual and literary presentation of material (e.g. by comparing the DVD with the booklet on Chernobyl) or of visual images compared with text. The running time is 53 minutes and it may be more effective to show it over several sessions, or to focus on particular sections. You are strongly advised to preview the film before deciding on the best use to make of it.
7. The enclosed news release from the World Health Organisation on its report on the aftermath of Chernobyl twenty years on and the Executive Summary of The Other Report on Chernobyl (TORCH) commissioned by the Greens/European Free Alliance in the European Parliament may together provide a useful base for follow-up discussions on the accident. Alternatively the two reports might form the basis for a lesson on the presentation of statistical information, factors to take into account when weighing conflicting evidence, and so forth.
8. It should be noted that the figures given for those affected by the accident by the WHO have been disputed as being much too low, and the thrust of the report is the effect on Chernobyl and the surrounding areas, with only passing reference to the effects on the rest of Europe. Even so, it is clear even from what is intended as a positive response to the after-effects of Chernobyl that the effect of the accident on the lives of millions in the surrounding areas has been devastating and that the measures taken to contain radiation within the damaged reactor are causing concern.
The TORCH report does give figures for the effects, actual and estimated, on the rest of Europe, including the number of farms still contaminated in the UK (see page 3). Indeed, its main thrust is to highlight these effects.
There is also an excellent report on Chernobyl for the Scottish Executive at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/research/briefings-05/SB05-27.pdf.
page last updated 31 May 2006