Natural hazard risks in the United States
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/15/g68/hazard.html
A lesson plan for Grades 6–7 Science
About this resource
- Appropriate grades
- 6–7
- Subjects
- science (environmental science), social studies (geography, North America), thinking skills (higher order thinking, information literacy, research skills, visual literacy), education technology (integrating technology), teaching methods (cooperative learning, discussions, online learning)
- Provider
- National Geographic
Legal
This catalog record is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License. This license applies to the content of this page only and does not apply to the referenced website.
In this Xpeditions lesson, students examine specific locations of high risk for various natural hazards, to assess why these hazards exist where they do, and to investigate what towns and cities are doing to prepare for a natural disaster.
Students will:
- label several towns on a blank map;
- view a map showing which natural hazards exist in each of these towns, and record their findings;
- research and take notes on earthquakes, volcanoes, tornadoes, hurricanes, and floods; and
- conduct case studies on specific towns that are susceptible to natural hazards.
Xpeditions provides detailed directions for completing the lesson, suggestions for assessment and extension activities, guiding questions for research, and links to helpful web resources.
North Carolina Curriculum Alignment
Science (2005)
Grade 6
- Goal 1: The learner will design and conduct investigations to demonstrate an understanding of scientific inquiry.
- Objective 1.01: Identify and create questions and hypotheses that can be answered through scientific investigations.
- Objective 1.05: Analyze evidence to:
- Explain observations.
- Make inferences and predictions.
- Develop the relationship between evidence and explanation.
- Objective 1.08: Use oral and written language to:
- Communicate findings.
- Defend conclusions of scientific investigations.
- Objective 1.09: Use technologies and information systems to:
- Research.
- Gather and analyze data
- Visualize data.
- Disseminate findings to others.
- Objective 1.10: Analyze and evaluate information from a scientifically literate viewpoint by reading, hearing, and/or viewing:
- Scientific text.
- Articles.
- Events in the popular press.
- Goal 3: The learner will build an understanding of the geological cycles, forces, processes, and agents which shape the lithosphere.
- Objective 3.01: Evaluate the forces that shape the lithosphere including:
- Crustal plate movement.
- Folding and faulting.
- Deposition.
- Volcanic Activity.
- Earthquakes.
- Objective 3.02: Examine earthquake and volcano patterns.
- Objective 3.07: Assess the use of technology and information systems in monitoring lithospheric phenomenon.
- Objective 3.01: Evaluate the forces that shape the lithosphere including:
Grade 7
- Goal 3: The learner will conduct investigations and utilize appropriate technologies and information systems to build an understanding of the atmosphere.
- Objective 3.04: Evaluate how humans impact air quality including:
- Air quality standards
- Point and non-point sources of air pollution in North Carolina.
- Financial and economic trade-offs.
- Local air quality issues.
- Objective 3.05: Examine evidence that atmospheric properties can be studied to predict atmospheric conditions and weather hazards:
- Humidity.
- Temperature.
- Wind speed and direction.
- Air pressure.
- Precipitation.
- Tornados.
- Hurricanes.
- Floods.
- Storms.
- Objective 3.04: Evaluate how humans impact air quality including:
