What Should We Be Teaching about such Natural Disasters as

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What Should We Be Teaching about such Natural
Disasters as

• Earthquakes
• Volcanoes
• Hurricanes
• Tornadoes
• Winter Storms
• Thunderstorms
• Floods
• El Nino/La Nina weather ?

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Students need to learn

• what causes various kinds of natural disasters
• where and why they are likely to occur
• emergency preparedness procedures
• what kinds of questions are likely to be asked on
  standardized tests

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Units about natural disasters are ideal to help
students develop

• content knowledge
• cooperative learning skills
• presentation skills
• community service
• older student to younger student teaching
  opportunities

http//www.fema.gov/diz00/ph_fl01.htm
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HURRICANES
Source http//www.nws.noaa.gov/om/hurricne.htm
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TORNADOES
Source http//www.spc.noaa.gov/index.shtml
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Severe Winter Storms
Source http//www.spc.noaa.gov/coolimg/index.html

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FLOODING Both USGS and NOAA web sites can give
you good information on this topic.
Potomac River at Chain Bridge near Washington,
D.C.(looking upstream during flood of September
8, 1996)
http//md.water.usgs.gov/floods/fran/flood_0996_pi
x.html
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SEVERE WEATHER HAZARDS Hurricanes,
tornadoes, blizzards, and other severe weather
also pose threats. They can be studied through
many Internet sites created by NOAA (National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) agencies.
NOAA home page www.noaa.gov
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How big a threat is severe weather?

• The National Weather Services Office of Climate,
  Water, and Weather Services tracks the impact.
  Information is available at
• http//www.nws.noaa.gov/om/hazstats.shtml
• Statistics for 2004 include 369 fatalities,
  2428 injuries, and almost 27 billion of property
  and crop damage.

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Whats one of the best ways to know when a
weather-related disaster may be happening in your
area?

• NOAA Weather Radio can provide immediate
  information, and can alert you when warnings have
  been issued with an alarm system.

• The NWS prominently provides warnings on their
  web page
• www.nws.noaa.gov

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FEMAFederal Emergency Management Agency

• FEMA often plays an important role in planning
  how to respond to natural disasters, as well as
  coping after they occur.
• FEMA home page www.fema.gov

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Another excellent source of information about
exciting weather is the American Meteorological
Societys DataStreme

• http//www.ametsoc.org/dstreme/
• Here you can find summaries of current
  weather conditions, images, and activities.
• The AMS has also created many other
  teacher-training activities available through
  workshops provided by AMS Atmosphere Education
  Resource Agents.

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Does Wording Affect Decisions?

• As the following terms which are often used in
  predictions of natural disasters appear, consider
  your own reaction and the kinds of decisions you
  might make about whether or not to take action

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• Definite
• Likely
• Possible
• Probable
• Unlikely
• Certain
• Improbable
• May
• Should

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Some additional ideas to be considered...

• How are events measured?
• Who receives the prediction?
• Who uses the prediction?
• Who benefits from the prediction?
• What happens when predictions are off?
• What happens if predictions are not made?
• How can we help our students understand limits of
  prediction?