BIS 314 - Lesson Objectives
Geography and Society – First Discussions
Lesson Objectives
As a result of the reading and the class discussions, you should be able to…
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Define the following terms or phrases: geography, natural disaster, risk,
risk assessment, mitigation, adaptive capacity, coping capacity.
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List and discuss at least 4 geographic factors that can control the
development and success of a society.
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Relate Jared Diamond’s examples of how geologic characteristics were
important in the development of Polynesian culture on different islands.
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List at least 5 different types of natural hazards.
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List several reasons why a natural hazard event may be considered a
natural disaster?
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Discuss two reasons why so many people live in areas prone to natural
hazards.
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Explain why disasters are expected to increase in frequency and
magnitude. What is driving increased disaster risk?
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Relate the factors a disaster risk reduction practitioner would use to
determine the vulnerability of a population to a natural hazard.
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Explain how poverty can contribute to vulnerability to natural hazards.
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Relate some of the elements of a disaster risk assessment.
Disasters Trends: Natural and Unnatural
As a result of the lecture and the readings, you should be able to…
 Define the following terms or phrases: ecosystem resilience.
 Explain the distinction between a natural and an unnatural disaster.
 Relate at least 5 ways we can foster unnatural disasters.
BIS 314 - Lesson Objectives
 Relate the following disaster trends over time: Death toll, economic
losses, total disasters.
 Identify the most commonly occurring natural hazard/disaster type.
 Identify at least 3 secondary impacts from a natural disaster that do not
get included in estimates of the economic cost of the event.
Topographic Map Lab
As a result of the lab and the readings, you should be able to…
 Define the following terms or phrases: latitude, longitude, elevation,
contour, closed contour.
 Calculate or determine the following on a map: contour interval, gradient,
relief, declination, scale, river flow direction, location using latitude and
longitude system, distance using scale.
 Create a topographic contour map given elevation data.
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Relate how the spacing of countours relates to slope.
Paradigm Evolution in our Models of the Earth +
Earth’s Structure
Lesson Objectives
As a result of this lesson and the readings, you should be able to:
 Define the following terms or phrases: geology, paradigm, model, and
equilibrium
 Differentiate between Catastrophism and Uniformitarianism.
 Compare the paradigms of Vertical Impermanence and Permanence and
relate observations used to support them.
 Describe and illustrate Darwin’s theory on the formation of coral atolls.
BIS 314 - Lesson Objectives
 Discuss Alfred Wegener’s Theory of Continental Drift, the evidence he
advanced to support it, and why it was not accepted by the scientific
community.
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Recreate an annotated cross-sectional model of the Earth’s structure.
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Identify and differentiate between the two types of seismic waves that
enable us to distinguish the layers of the Earth.
Plate Tectonics
Lesson Objectives
As a result of the readings and class, you should be able to:
o Define the following terms or phrases: Lithospheric Plate, Seafloor
Spreading, Rifting, Mid Ocean Ridge, Rift Valley, Transform Fault,
Subduction, Trench, Paleomagnetism, Seamount, Divergent Boundary,
Convergent Boundary, Transform Boundary, Continental Margin, Hotspot
o Summarize the major points of the Theory of Plate Tectonics.
o Explain how data collected on the magnetism, depth, and the age of
oceanic crust support the Theory of Plate Tectonics.
o Explain how the distribution of earthquakes, volcanoes, and the Hawaiian
Island chain relate to plate tectonics.
o Identify at least 2 characteristics that allow us to differentiate between:
- Oceanic crust and Continental crust
- Crust and Mantle
- Lithosphere and Asthenosphere
- Normal and Reverse Paleomagnetism
- Wegener’s Theory of Continental Drift and the Theory of Plate
Tectonics
o Relate a mechanism that could account for the movement of tectonic
plates.
o Explain the physiographic and geologic hazard differences between the
east and west coasts of the U.S. in the context of the Theory of Plate
Tectonics.
Volcanoes
BIS 314 - Lesson Objectives
Lesson Objectives
As a result of this lesson and the reading, you should be able to:
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Define the following terms or phrases: Shield Volcanoe, Stratovolcano,
Flood Basalts, Lahar, Pyroclastics, Lava, Nuee Ardente.
Distinguish between the volcanism found over hot spots, subduction
zones, and spreading centers in terms of their rock composition, volcano
type, magma viscosity, and danger.
List and discuss at least three of the hazards associated with volcanoes.
Relate the benefits associated with volcanoes and volcanism.
Discuss which areas of the United States are at most risk from volcanic
eruptions and why.
Explain two of the techniques used to predict volcanic eruptions.