Disaster Strikes!

Introduction:

You are living in one of five cities:

*              Topeka, Kansas

*      Miami, Florida

*  Newport, Oregon

*              Frankfort, Kentucky

*              San Francisco, California

 

A natural disaster has just occurred in your city.  In Topeka there has just been a tornado.  In Miami there has just been a hurricane.  In Newport there has just been a mudslide.  In Frankfort there has just been a flood.  In San Francisco there has just been an earthquake. 

Your city was unaware that this disaster was coming and they had no idea what to do when the disaster occurred.  You and your team must come up with a plan on what to do when one of these natural disasters occur.

                  

Task:

You will be divided into five teams.  Your job is to explore the websites on the natural disaster that has just occurred in your city.  You will need to research the following things to present to the class:

1.     What is the definition of natural disaster?

2. What is the definition of your specific natural disaster?

3. What causes your natural disaster?

4. Are there different types of your natural disaster?

5. What does your natural disaster do physically to the Earth’s surface?

6. What types of instruments (if any) can be used to detect if your natural disaster is coming?

7.   What kind of weather is usually associated with your natural disaster?

8. What kind of precautions can the people in your city take to decrease the chance of damage to their property if the natural disaster were to occur again?

9.  How do you clean up your city after the natural disaster has occurred?

10.    Pick 5 other facts about your natural disaster that the people of your city should know about.

·     This could include: (among others)

§     How often the disaster may occur in one year

§     How to stay safe during the natural disaster

§     How long does the disaster usually last

§     Any recent occurrences of your disaster around the world

§     How dangerous your natural disaster really is

 

Along with these facts about your natural disaster your team needs to come up with a plan for dealing with this type of disaster.  Your city is counting on you to come up with a workable plan for precautionary measures before the disaster occurs, evacuation, and clean up after the disaster occurs.  You must list the elements of the plan and include a description of each element.  You must also describe how you are going to implement the plan into the city.

 

You will be presenting (~ 15 minutes) your information to the class.  As a team you must decide how to do this.  The presentation must include a visual aide.  Pictures of your natural disaster can be found on the websites provided or you may find your own. You may use one of the following ideas or you may come up with your own idea (to be approved by me):

·     A poster presentation

·     A PowerPoint presentation

·     A brochure (one needs to be made for everyone in the class)

·     BrochureMaking – click here for help on creating a brochure with Microsoft Publisher

(http://www.bham.wednet.edu/technology/TechWeb/Desktop_Publishing/PblBrocHow.htm)

 

Resources: make sure you include a works cited page with your presentation!

Tornadoes

http://www.noaa.gov/tornadoes.html

http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/NWSTornado/

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/index.html

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

http://www.chaseday.com/tornadoes.htm

http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/%28Gh%29/guides/mtr/svr/torn/home.rxml

 

 

 

Hurricanes

http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/hurr/home.rxml

http://hurricanes.noaa.gov/index.html

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

http://kids.earth.nasa.gov/archive/hurricane/index.html

http://www.miamisci.org/hurricane/

 

Mudslides/Landslides

http://www.redcross.org/services/disaster/0%2C1082%2C0_588_%2C00.html

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/wmudslde.htm

http://www.surfnetkids.com/related.php?t=mudslides

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

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

 

Floods

http://www.noaa.gov/floods.html

http://www.fema.gov/hazards/floods/

http://www.redcross.org/services/disaster/0%2C1082%2C0_585_%2C00.html

http://www.usgs.gov/themes/flood.html

http://test.weathereye.org/cadet/flood/

http://www.naturalhazards.org/investigate/floods/

 

Earthquakes

http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/earthq1/

http://www.crustal.ucsb.edu/ics/understanding/

http://www.earthquakes.bgs.ac.uk/

http://www.thetech.org/exhibits/online/quakes/overview/

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

http://science.howstuffworks.com/earthquake.htm

 

Rubric: - you will only be receiving a group score for this assignment, make sure you are putting in 100% effort to your group

 

Outstanding (3)

Developing (2)

Basic (1)

Research

Uses 4-5 websites from the list to find information

Uses 2-3 websites from the list to find information

Uses only one (1) website from the list to find information

Plan

Lists all three elements of the plan with a thorough description of the three elements, thorough description of how to implement the plan in the city  

Lists the elements of the plan with minimal description of the elements, minimal  description of how to implement the plan

Only lists the three elements of the plan with no description of the elements or how to implement the plan

Presentation

Using visual aide only to highlight information, loud and clear speaking voice, a lot of practice apparent, creative visual aide

Reading from visual aide, medium speaking voice, some practicing apparent, a little extra information (not on visual aide) spoken

Short, just reading from visual aide or no visual aide present, low speaking voice, not practiced

 

Conclusion:

This webquest activity is a great way for students to teach each other about different natural disasters.  This assignment is designed for 8th graders as they are completing their unit on weather.  By working together the student have a fun way to explore the different natural disasters that occur frequently in our world today.