Nicole McMahon
Title: Human Impact of Earthquakes and Volcanoes
Drawings: See below
Objective: To introduce the effects of earthquakes and volcanoes on humans.
Materials needed:
4 Oakland Maps
Prepared questions based on material
Time duration: 40 minutes
Vocabulary:
Landslide – the downslope movement, under the influence of gravity, of masses of soil and rock material (i.e. rockfall, mudflow, slump)
Liquefaction – The transformation of loosely packed, water-saturated sediment into a fluid during ground shaking.
Tsunami – A great sea wave produced by a submarine earthquake or volcanic eruption. Generally cannot identify tsunamis at sea but become more pronounced closer to shores.
Introduction: Community Risk Assessment (30m)
Students are divided into 4 teams and each is given a copy of the attached Oakland Map and assigned a position (A-D). Explain to the students that they are going to be asked to make decisions based on the map.
Activity:
1. Geoscientists: Students will act as teams of geoscientists and are tasked with the job of determining the hazards associated with the earthquake of M7.2 and origin at star.
2. Homeowners: Students will act as teams of homeowners and are asked how they will react when an earthquake strikes, will they choose to stay in the area if they know earthquakes happen frequently, and how they would like the government to help them.
3. Politicians: Students will act as teams of politicians and are tasked with deciding how to prepare the city for a future earthquake and how they will help people after an earthquake with budget constraints.
After each team exercise, have the teams present their findings and the teacher can help along ideas while teaching the effects of earthquakes.
Debriefing:
Explain to the students how difficult it is to accommodate everyone’s desired/needs/agendas.
Assessment/Evaluation: Trivia Board Game (15m)
Divide the class into two teams and take a volunteer from each team to act as the game piece. The teacher can either draw a board game (much like Candyland) on the board, or design the classroom like the board. From the prepared questions, assign a point value (between 1 and 3), and cut the questions onto separate pieces of paper and place the pieces in a container. Have a student from the first team draw a piece. If the student answers correctly, the volunteered team member move the number of spaces equivalent to the point value. Drawings are passed back and forth between the teams.
Resources:
Smith, G.A. and Pun, A., 2006. How Does Earth Work? Pearson Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River, NJ.
Bates, R.L. and Jackson, J.A. (ed), 1984. Dictionary of Geological Terms (3ed). Anchor Books: New York.
Wikipedia