Summary
Iceland’s dramatic landscapes are deeply intertwined with a rich tradition of storytelling, where myths and folklore once served to explain the “unexplainable” in the physical world. This presentation demonstrates how geography educators can leverage such narratives to help K–12 students make sense of core physical geography processes, from coastal erosion to volcanism and river flooding. Grounded in a constructivist and inquiry-based approach, the lesson framework invites students to interpret stories, question “why,” and then connect folkloric explanations with scientific concepts.
Participants will experience a short-version lesson in which students are given a myth and asked to identify the underlying physical process and explain it scientifically. A longer version extends this work over one or more weeks by having students locate a myth from any culture, analyze the physical geography embedded in the story, and draw parallels between cultural and scientific explanations. Additional examples from other cultures illustrate how this approach can be adapted across regions and grade levels. Attendees will leave with ready-to-use lesson structures, ideas for sourcing culturally diverse myths, and strategies for fostering reflective, interrogative classroom discussions that deepen students’ understanding of Earth’s dynamic systems while honoring multiple ways of knowing
Session Focus
All Grade Levels | Physical & Environmental Geography | Inquiry
Conference Room
Reynolds Leadership Circle
Meet the Presenters
Mayra Román-Rivera
