Teaching program— Chapter 6: Disasters
Unit 1
Big Idea / Key knowledge and skills / Resources / VELS standards (adapted)6.1 What impact do tectonic disasters have?? / Geography:
1 Case study of a large earthquake: Sichuan, China, 2008
2 An analysis of why earthquakes occur and why they occur in certain places
3 Tsunamis that result from tectonic movement with a case study of the Asian tsunami, 2004
4 An analysis of the causes and effects of volcanic eruptions with a case study of Mount Tambora, 1815
5 Australia’s tectonic location
Thinking:
1 Locating relevant information.
2 Applying geographic skills such as the construction of an overlay map
3 Creativity in the design of an earthquake proof house / Oxford Big Ideas
Geography Level 5,
pp. 160–175
Suggested answers to all unit activities at www.oxfordbigideas.com
Suggested rubric for Big Ideas activities and the Fresh Ideas activity at www.oxfordbigideas.com
Worksheet 6.1 ‘Major earthquakes in your lifetime’ at www.oxfordbigideas.com / Humanities—Geography, Level 5
1 Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the tectonic characteristics of Australia and the Asia-Pacific region
2 Explain, using examples, how the interaction of physical processes such as the location of tectonic plate boundaries and human activities create variations within the regions
3 Collect geographical information from electronic and print media, including topographic and atlas maps and analyse, evaluate and present it using a range of forms.
4 Construct an overlay theme map using map conventions of scale, legend, title, and north point
Thinking processes, Level 5
1 Use a range of question types, and locate and select relevant information from varied sources when undertaking investigations.
2 Use a range of discipline-based methodologies.
3 Complete an activity to design an earthquake proof house that focuses on problem solving and decision making.
Learning sequence
Lesson 1
1 Begin with a brainstorm of the types of disasters that occur around the world. Write these on the board and then ask students to classify them in some way. Avoid the temptation of making suggestions about the system of classification as students may find ways of doing this themselves that you hadn’t thought about. Use these classifications as the basis of a class discussion to find out how much they already know about disasters.
2 Read pages 160 and 161 and complete the activities. Suggested answers and assessment rubrics are available on the website for all activities in this chapter.
3 The first section (6.1) in this chapter deals with tectonic disasters: earthquakes, tsunami and volcanic eruptions. You might like to begin with an introduction to the internal structure of the Earth and a look at the crust, mantle, plate tectonics and convection currents. Check first with your school’s science department as this may already be taught in science. Pages 167 and 168 provide the basics but you might like to add more material. This then leads logically into a study of earthquakes. The basics of earthquakes are available as a PowerPoint presentation at http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learning/eq101/EQ101.htm
4 This text takes a new approach to the teaching of disasters in that it begins with a case study, usually the world’s largest or most destructive of each of the disasters to engage the student’s initially and then uses this disaster to cover the factors behind the disaster. For earthquakes this case study is provided with the Sichuan earthquake of 2008. Read this material on pages 163–165. The topographic map provides an opportunity to reinforce skills usually covered in year seven such as contour reading and six-figure grid references.
5 Complete the activities on page 168.
6 The fresh ideas activity on page 166 is an opportunity for students with a kinesthetic learning style to really excel. Based loosely on the fairy tale of ‘The Three Little Pigs’ it considers what would happen to the three houses if the big bad wolf could make an earthquake rather than blow houses down. Would a stick or brick house be best? Follow the instructions given but also encourage creativity in building design. While the sticks house is shown a brick house could be constructed with sugar cube and icing sugar. There is an assessment rubric on the website on which students complete a self assessment task in which they examine what they learnt from completing this activity.
7 The Boxing Day tsunami of 2004 is used as the case study for this type of tectonic disaster. This event is already fading in the minds of many students and you may need to add resources to remind them of the devastation and impact on many countries. Most school atlases published since 2005 include additional information on this disaster to provide additional information. The destruction of Banda Aceh is a common case study but this text uses Kalutara Beach in Sri Lanka. Examine these two satellite photographs and remind students that they waves had already travelled thousands of kilometers from their source. A simple internet search will reveal more photographs of this beach including another satellite photograph the following day.
8 Complete the activities on page 171.
Lesson 2
1 The second part of this section deals with volcanic eruptions. Begin by reviewing information on tectonic plates so that students clearly understand the links between earthquakes and eruptions.
2 Once again, the section begins with the case study, this time the Tambora eruption of 1815. Read the section on page 172 and use the fabulous artwork to explain the causes and effects of this eruption. You may like to scan this image and project it onto a screen before you use it in class.
3 Read page 174 which provides more case studies along with the background information about the causes of these disasters and complete the activities at the top of page 175.
4 The Big Ideas activities on page 175 could be used to review the students’ understanding of tectonic disasters at the end of the section or could be used throughout your study. Questions 1, 3, 5, 7 and 12 refer to earthquakes; 6, 8, 9 and 10 to tsunami and 2 and 4 to eruptions. Activity 11 provides an interesting summary at the end of these activities.
5 Activity 7 requires students to research a list of destructive earthquakes that have occurred since 1990 before completing the mapping activity. This information is also available on Worksheet 6.1 ‘Major earthquakes in your lifetime’ on the website. Once you have used this information for the overlay map activity, complete the worksheet. Students will particularly enjoy finding out about earthquakes that have occurred on their birthday.
6 Each member of the class could be given one of the earthquakes listed on Worksheet 6.1. They could research their earthquake and present their information on an A3 sized annotated visual diagram. This may be a good opportunity to develop their skills with a presentation programme such as Microsoft Publisher. Each AVD should include a map, one photograph and written descriptions of the causes, effects and responses to the earthquake. These AVDs could be displayed on the classroom wall around a large map of the world showing the location of each earthquake.
Lesson 3
1 The spatial concept of scale has two meanings and these are described on page 137. You may like to review the three main types of scales used on maps as described on pages 22–23. Activities estimating the distance between places on the topographic map (Source 5.6) could then easily be developed.
2 Students generally understand the use of the concept ‘scale’ to describe the size of the area being studied but often forget the correct words such as local and regional. Using the flow diagram on page 137 as a template construct a wall display showing features at each of these scales.
3 Complete activities 1–4 on page 137.
4 Distance builds on the concept of scale and this is generally covered in Year 7 in a skills unit. The concepts of relative and absolute distance will be new to most students, however, and they may take a while to understand the difference between them. Use the case studies of the Northwest Passage and the traffic flow on Melbourne’s roads to illustrate the concept of relative distance. The Northwest Passage example could be used as a springboard into a discussion about climate change.
5 Complete activities 1–4 on page 138.
6 Complete the remaining Big Ideas activities on page 139. Activity 7 will give them a real opportunity to apply their skills and understanding and to see the key differences between relative and absolute distance. Suggested responses and assessment rubrics for these activities are available on the website.
Teaching program— Chapter 6: How do we sustain communities in the face of disasters?
Unit 2
Big Idea / Key knowledge and skills / Resources / VELS standards (adapted)6.2 How do weather disasters affect communities? / Geography:
1 Flooding as a natural disaster
2 Case study of floods in China to illustrate the underlying causes of flooding
3 Mudslides in Venezuela
4 Geographic sketches
5 Location of tropical cyclones and the physical processes responsible for their formation
6 Model interpretation
7 Case studies: Cyclone Bhola and Hurricane Katrina
8 Analysing satellite images
9 Heatwaves and bushfires in south-eastern Australia
10 Case study: Black Friday, 1939
Thinking:
1 Investigating disasters using a wide range of visual and written material
2 Ability to compare disasters
3 Creativity in analysing successful tactics in surviving a bushfire / Oxford Big Ideas
Geography Level 5
pp. 176–185
Suggested answers to all unit activities at www.oxfordbigideas.com
Suggested rubric for Big Ideas activities at www.oxfordbigideas.com
Worksheet 6.2 Our Blackest Saturday at www.oxfordbigideas.com
Worksheet 5.2 Finding Spatial Concepts at www.oxfordbigideas.com
Worksheet 6.3 Be Prepared at www.oxfordbigideas.com / Humanities—Geography, Level 5
1 Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of Australian regions and regions within Asia
2 Explain, using examples, how disasters are the result of the interaction between natural processes and human activities
3 Demonstrate an understanding of the different ways in which communities and individuals respond to disasters
4 Collect geographic information from electronic and print media including satellite images, photographs and atlas maps.
5 Analyse, evaluate and present information in a range of forms..
Thinking processes, Level 5
1 Locate and select relevant information from a range of sources when undertaking an investigation
2 Use a range of geographic skills and techniques including sketching, model interpretation and map construction
3 Complete activities focusing on problem solving and decision making which involve an increasing number of variables and solutions such as surviving a bushfire
Learning sequence
Lesson 1
1 Weather disasters are much more common than tectonic disasters and a newspaper search is a good place to start. Bring into class a copy of a national newspaper with good international coverage and look for examples of weather related disasters. Use these to discuss why some regions of the world seem to experience many such disasters while others receive relatively few. Emphasise that this is due to a combination of the natural processes responsible for the weather phenomenon (such as warm tropical waters in the case of cyclones) and human activities (such as settlement patterns near rivers in the case of flooding). This can be shown as a Venn diagram on the board.
2 Read pages 176 and 177 on flooding. China is an excellent example of the interaction of natural processes and human activities that result in large scale disasters. Use the 1931 Huang He flood to demonstrate this concept. Use Google Earth to follow the course of this river and examine the settlement patterns along its course, particularly the distribution of large cities on its lower floodplains.
3 Complete the activities on flooding on page 178. The rail network, for example, tends to be radial, stations are lineal and industrial areas tend to be clustered.
4 Cyclones are an interesting phenomenon because they occur in clearly defined regions at clearly defined times of the year. Students could use the United States National Hurricane Centre archives to examine the idea that hurricanes occur at certain times of the year. This can be accessed at http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pastall.shtml This is a website that contains huge amounts of useful information of hurricanes, including an analysis of conditions that occurred in the lead up to Hurricane Katrina. The Australian equivalent is the wonderful Bureau of Meteorology website at www.bom.gov.au/weather/cyclone/
5 Read page 179 as the introduction to cyclones and page 180 that discusses cyclones in Bangladesh. Take note of the unique combination of factors, both natural and human, that result in so many destructive cyclones in Bangladesh.
6 Hurricane Katrina is perhaps the most studied cyclone in history and yet Cyclone Bhola was much more deadly and destructive. Discuss with students why this might be the case. Why do we tend to see and hear more about disasters in developed countries such as the United States than in developing countries such as Bangladesh?
7 Students could use the internet to gather together images of Katrina and to group them together under broad heading such as causes, effects and responses.
8 Download, print and distribute Worksheet 6.3—Be Prepared from the website. This can be completed at any stage of this unit of enquiry.
9 Complete the activities on page 181.
LESSON 2
1 Use atlas maps such as those on pages 32–35 in Oxford Atlas Project 3 to examine the types of disasters that are common in Australia. The main focus is the idea that we receive few tectonic disasters but many weather disasters. Brainstorm the reasons for this and develop a list of these weather related disasters.
2 Pages 182–184 focus on bushfires and heatwaves. This provides a good starting point for a more in depth unit of enquiry. If you have the time to expand on this topic there is a great deal of information easily available. The Country Fire Authority website at cfa.com.au is a good place to start. The National Museum of Australia has a full unit of enquiry using its online exhibits at www.nma.gov.au/education/school_resources/events/fire_in_australia/
3 Read through pages 182–183 and complete the activities on page 183.
4 The text examines the black Friday fires and heatwave of 1939 which was until recently Australia’s worst bushfire and natural disaster. The fires in Victoria in February, 2009 replaced the 1939 event as the worst ever experienced. Depending on the location of your school and the impact of this disastrous event on your school community you may which to examine these fires in more detail. A logical way to organize a study of a disaster such as this is to use the following sequence of enquiry: causes"effects"responses. To assist with this use Worksheet 6.2—Our Blackest Saturday from the website.
a Causes. Examine the underlying reasons for bushfires in this part of Australia in general i.e. the spatial association of large areas of eucalypt forest, particular climatic conditions such as mild winters, drought and hot northerly winds and a settlement pattern such as the growth of outlying Melbourne suburbs in forested areas in the Dandenong Ranges and on the slopes of the Great Dividing Range. Once this has been covered examine the weather conditions in the week before 7 February 2009 and the weather conditions on that day. Use Worksheet 5.2—Finding Spatial Concepts which has a newspaper article about the combination of factors that led to the disaster to assist with this section.
b Effects. This part of the unit could be set as a research topic, but students need to be shown how to research effectively and not to believe everything they see on the internet! Some good starting points are the photo galleries of local and national newspapers, the Emergency Management Australia website at ema.gov.au which contains information on all significant disasters in Australia’s history and a Four Corners programme on the 2009 bushfires ‘“Two Days in Hell’ which first screened on 16 February.
c Responses. Individuals and communities respond in different ways to the possibility of a natural disaster occurring and during and after the disaster itself. Use the quiz on surviving a bushfire and the graphic showing ways to prepare a home for a bushfire on page 184 as an introduction to this concept. The ‘Four Corners’ episode listed above examines how some communities were well prepared and others were not. Visit the CFA website for further suggestions on preparing for bushfires. There are also the responses during and after extreme events. Outline the ‘prepare to defend or leave early’ policy which is the current CFA policy and came about following an enquiry as a result of the 1983 Ash Wednesday fires.
5 Complete the Big Ideas activities on page 184 as a summary of weather related disasters.
Teaching program— Chapter 6: How do we sustain communities in the face of disasters?