Natural Disasters

Natural Disasters

You have been elected mayor to the town of Weatherville. Unfortunately, because of your town’s location, it can fall victim to many natural disasters. From tornadoes and hurricanes, to earthquakes and floods, Weatherville has it all. Your job as newly elected mayor requires you to appoint a task force to develop a plan to deal with each natural disaster. The task force, otherwise known as the WNDTF (Weatherville Natural Disaster Task Force) will be responsible for learning as much as they can about their natural disaster, and then putting to use their new knowledge, by developing a plan of action for your town. The WNDTF will be divided into 8 groups. These groups will consist of Mudslides, Tsunamis, Volcanoes, Earthquakes, Floods, Tornadoes, Hurricanes and Wildfires. Although each of the group’s tasks will be the same, they will be using different resources to research their disaster. This is serious business and lives are at stake. The town of Weatherville is counting on you. Don’t let them down.

Task

Your assignment as a member of the WNDTF is to research your natural disaster. You will need to work with your team and distribute the work evenly. Decide early on, who will be responsible for each aspect of the assignment. You will learn about your natural disaster and when it occurs. You will learn what type of destruction is caused by your disaster. Finally, you will put into place a preparedness plan, for when this disaster occurs. Once all research is complete, we will share our information at a town meeting. The citizens will be very proud of all of your hard work. This is a tremendous responsibility. Are you up for the challenge?

Process

You will be working within your disaster group. There will be three categories of topics that you will be researching about your disaster. Please provide at least 2 examples for each question.

I. What is a Natural Disaster?

A. How does this natural disaster occur?

B. When is this natural disaster most likely to occur?

C. What characteristics make up this event?

II. Damage, Destruction and Devastation

A. What type of destruction is caused by this natural disaster?

B. What is the average cost of damage and destruction caused by this natural disaster?

C. Other interesting facts.

III. Are you prepared? Your preparedness plan for your disaster.

A. What are some materials that might be necessary to be ready for this natural disaster?

B. What are some procedures families should follow to be prepared for this natural disaster?

C. Additional ways to be prepared

Resources

Natural Disaster Resources: Web Sites

KidsKonnect – Natural Disasters

http://www.kidskonnect.com/NaturalDisasters/DisasterHome.htm

Landslides and Mudslides –

http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/landslides.asp

FEMA for Kids –

http://www.fema.gov/kids/kids/

Mudslide Fact Sheet –

http://www.doh.wa.gov/Topics/Mudslide.htm

Natural Disasters – Destructive Forces of Nature –

http://library.thinkquest.org/16132/frames.html

CDC Natural Disasters –

http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/

Ready.gov – Be informed – Natural Disasters –

http://www.ready.gov/natural_disasters.html

Yahoo! Natural Disaster web sites –

http://yahooligans.yahoo.com/Science_and_Nature/The_Earth/Environment/Environmental_Disasters/

Teaching Resources – Natural Disasters –

http://science.uniserve.edu.au/school/resource/natdis.html

Natural Disaster Resources: Books

Berger, Melvin. Do Tornadoes Really Twist? Questions and Answers About Tornadoes and Hurricanes. New York. Scholastic, 2000.

Colson, Mary. Forest Furnace: Wildfires. Chicago, IL. Raintree, 2004.

Cone, Patrick. Wildfire. Minneapolis, MN. Carolrhoda Books, 1997.

Farndon, John. Volcanoes. New York. Dorling Kindersley Pub, 1998.

Hayden, Kate. Twisters!. New York. Dorling Kindersley Pub, 2000.

Kramer, Stephen P. Tornado. Minneapolis, MN. Carolrhoda Books, 1992.

Lauber, Patricia. Flood: Wrestling with the Mississippi. Washington, DC. National Geographic Society, 1996.

Lauber, Patricia. Hurricanes: Earth’s Mightiest Storms. New York. Scholastic, 1996.

Murray, Peter. Volcanoes. Plymouth, MN. Child’s World, 1996.

Petty, Katie. Tidal Waves Wash Away Cities. Brookfield, CT. Copper Beech Books, 1999.

Simon, Seymour. Hurricanes. New York. HarperCollins, 2003.

Simon, Seymour. Tornadoes. New York. Morrow Junior Books, 1999.

Souza, Dorothy M. Hurricanes. Minneapolis, MN. Carolrhoda Books,1996.

Souza, Dorothy M. Powerful Waves. Minneapolis, MN. Carolrhoda Books,1992.

Thompson, Luke. Tsunamis. New York. Children’s Press, 2000.

Van Rose, Susanna. Volcano & Earthquake. New York. Dorling Kindersley Pub, 2000.

Walker, Sally M. Earthquakes. Minneapolis, MN. Carolrhoda Books, 1996

Evaluation

Below is a rubric showing how this project will be graded. Although this is a group project, you will each be responsible for your own work. You will be graded on your research skills and presentation of facts. Since you will be accessing the internet and books, spelling and grammar will be graded. Stay focused and organized and do your best!

Multimedia Project : Natural Disasters

CATEGORY	4	3	2	1
Requirements	All requirements are met and exceeded.	All requirements are met.	One requirement was not completely met.	More than one requirement was not completely met.
Presentation	Well-rehearsed with smooth delivery that holds audience attention.	Rehearsed with fairly smooth delivery that holds audience attention most of the time.	Delivery not smooth, but able to maintain interest of the audience most of the time.	Delivery not smooth and audience attention often lost.
Content	Covers topic in-depth with details and examples. Subject knowledge is excellent.	Includes essential knowledge about the topic. Subject knowledge appears to be good.	Includes essential information about the topic but there are 1-2 factual errors.	Content is minimal OR there are several factual errors.
Mechanics	No misspellings or grammatical errors.	Three or fewer misspellings and/or mechanical errors.	Four misspellings and/or grammatical errors.	More than 4 errors in spelling or grammar

Conclusion

Congratulations! Because of your hard work, the citizens of Weatherville have a Natural Disaster Plan in place. All citizens have attended seminars outlining each one of the disasters. Every citizen has an emergency plan and has emergency supplies should any of these disasters occur. For your hard work and dedication, you and the members of the WNDTF have been given keys to the city, and will have a park named in your honor. Good job!