COEUR d’ALENE — A siren screamed in Mitch Dremann's Earth science class and the students dove for cover under tables and desks.

Then they dove even deeper into the serious and important topic of what to do in an emergency and how to respond to a natural disaster.

So, if Mount Rainier blows and Seattle is under ash and pyroclastic flows, Canfield Middle School eighth-graders will know what to do.

"Mr. Dremann's been preparing us," said eighth-grader Colin Cherny. "We do earthquake tests and stuff and it's super cool because he taught us how to do it. It's like 'stop, cover and hold' on for like an earthquake."

Dremann and fellow science instructor Tony Prka have been teaching their students about plate tectonics, earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis. Rather than give them traditional tests, they had each student choose an organization to represent during a mock city hall meeting to prepare plans for before and after disasters in Seattle.

Eight students at a time sat at desks arranged in a fishbowl in center of the room, while one "hot seat" was open for observing students to jump in and ask questions about their peers' research. The students represented entities such as the American Red Cross, fire departments, school districts and earthquake preparedness organizations as they discussed evacuation routes, clean water and food supplies, what to do with volcanic ash and maintaining communication between parents and schoolchildren.

This format is known as a "Socratic Seminar," a formal discussion where open-ended questions are asked and students listen to each other, think critically for themselves and articulate their own thoughts and responses to the thoughts of others.

"All of us, we were really nervous about it. None of us don't like talking that much," said Zakry Wenglikowski. "When we got in there, we were almost fighting for the role of who was talking because we got into it that much. We learned a bunch of stuff we had no idea about, like the fire department, what they would do in these situations."

Cherny, representing Seattle's homeless population, said he was really excited about the project.

"It's something I've never done before and something new to me. I always like to try new things," he said. "I feel like everyone else is excited because we're learning and doing fun stuff together to see what other organizations would do or how to help other people."

The students were evaluated on understanding, preparation, active listening, science vocabulary and analysis.

"They're problem-solving like in a real-world situation where they're communicating with adults," Prka said. "They're not just coming up with ideas; it's research-based."

The activity is especially timely as natural disasters have been occurring at an unprecedented rate, such as the wildfires that burned in California last fall and, most recently, the tornadoes in the southeastern U.S.

"Some kiddos, they're not good at paper testing," Prka said. "This gives those kids a great opportunity to shine."

"Plus, it generates higher-level thinking," Dremann added. "I think that's huge because now it gives them a way to express themselves in a way they can't on standardized tests."