Lesson Two: Investigating the Impact of Particular Hazards in the USA

NOTE: You will need laptops and to ensure that students have logins

Starter: The USA is a country that experiences many hazards:

 How many states are there in the USA?

 Can you name 10 states?

 Can you name three states where physical hazards might occur?

Activity One:

Resources:

Atlas showing states of the USA (page 138 or p146/147)

PDF file of USA with state boundaries

Students to find and label the following states:

North Carolina Kentucky North DakotaCalifornia Hawaii

Arizona Washington Kansas Florida Pennsylvania

(10 mins)

Activity Two:

Give students a number that corresponds to a particular hazard that occurs in the United States. Students use web resources to investigate these further and plot onto their map. Each pair of students should record information about the following:

 The type of threat that their hazard poses  Specific damage caused by past events and their cost  The time of year and area of the United States in which the risk is greatest  Efforts people are making to reduce the impact of the hazard In addition, they should plot on their maps the areas where the risk of the natural hazard is greatest. (20 minutes)

3. When students have completed their research, have them present their findings to the class. Record on the board what the students learned about each of the hazards. You may want to record student information in a chart on the board so that they can compare the various hazards. Categories in the chart might include: location, seasonal influences, costs, efforts to minimize damage, and so on. (15 minutes)

4. Once all of the information has been recorded, ask students to draw conclusions about and connections among the various hazards. For example, ask them to assess which hazards are most costly and which are least costly; which hazards occur predominantly in the West, Midwest, and South; which hazards result from or are made worse by other hazards; and so on. (10 minutes)

Hazards by number: 1. Hurricane; 2. Tornado; 3. Flood; 4. Landslide; 5. Avalanche; 6. Tsunami; 7. Volcanic Eruption; 8. Earthquake; 9. Wildfire; 10. Drought; 11. Storm Surge

Web Resources: http://www.teachersdomain.org/folder/view/1247935/

Login: bhsgeography

Password: stromboli www.google.com for web searches

Web sites: www.naturalhazards.org www.edu4hazards.org http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/ http://www.earthweek.com/index.html