Catastrophic Events
3rd Report Period
The Catastrophic Events module is one that helps students to clarify
what they already know about earth’s natural catastrophic events
and gives them the opportunity to perform a series of engaging
hands-on activities which they extend and enrich this knowledge. This
module is divided into three parts: Storms, Earthquakes, and
Volcanoes.
Concepts















A map is a representation of the earth or a part of the earth, usually on a flat surface,
and a globe is a representation of the earth on a sphere.
Continental shapes, natural landforms, and swirling clouds offer evidence of an active
earth and atmosphere.
A vortex is the movement of a liquid or gas in a spiral around a central axis.
A thunderstorm is a disturbance in the earth’s atmosphere that involves lightning and
thunder and sometimes-gusty surface winds, heavy rain, and hail.
A tornado is a violent windstorm that spirals around a rotating column of air (the
vortex) and moves in a narrow path over land.
A hurricane is a massive system of rotating winds that forms over warm tropical waters.
Heat can be transferred by radiation, conduction, or convection.
Solar radiation, or energy from the sun, is a major source of energy for weather
phenomena.
The surfaces of the earth and the atmosphere both absorb and reflect the sun’s radiant
energy; absorbed energy is converted to heat and can be radiated back into the
atmosphere.
Temperature is an indication of the amount of heat energy in a solid, liquid or gas.
The composition, color, and moisture content of a material affect the rate at which it
absorbs or reflects solar energy.
The atmosphere, which has different properties at different altitudes, is a mixture of
nitrogen, oxygen, and trace gases, including water vapor.
Warm surfaces radiate heat energy and warm the air above them.
Warm air is less dense than cool air and has a tendency to rise, creating an unstable air
mass.
Cool surfaces absorb heat energy and cool the air above them.






























Cool air is more dense than warm air and has a tendency to sink, creating a stable air
mass.
Water evaporates from heated surfaces, and the rising water vapor cools, condenses,
and forms clouds.
Patterns of atmospheric movement affect local weather.
The upward movement of warm air and the downward movement of cool air form
convection currents, which move heat through the troposphere.
Fronts from at the boundary between two air masses with different temperature,
pressure and humidity conditions.
Land breezes and sea breezes are the result of uneven heating and cooling of land and
water.
The movement and exchange of water between the earth, atmosphere, and oceans is
called the water cycle.
Water vapor enters the air by evaporation from bodies of water.
Water vapor in the air changes to water by condensation.
Clouds form under low air pressure when water vapor from warm, rising air condenses
(or when warm and cold air masses meet).
Precipitation, thunderstorms, tornadoes, and hurricanes often develop in low-pressure
weather conditions (or when warm and cold air masses meet).
The path of a hurricane can be tracked, but it is not always easy to predict.
The sun heats the earth and its oceans unevenly.
Temperature differences affect the way water moves.
Deep ocean currents flow beneath the surface of the ocean.
Surface currents flow at or near the surface of the ocean and are usually driven by
atmospheric conditions, including winds.
Oceans have a major effect on climate.
El Nino is an unusually warm flow of surface water that affects global weather
patterns.
Processes within the earth cause earthquakes, which can change or destroy human and
wildlife habitats.
Natural catastrophic events can present risks to individuals.
A wave is one of a series of movements passing along a surface or through a substance.
A wave originates at one point and travels outward in all directions.
Energy produced by an earthquake travels in waves.
Earthquake waves move through the earth and on, or close to, the earth’s surface in
different ways and at different speeds, which results in damage to structures.
Earthquake-resistant structures help reduce the risks associated with earthquakes.
Earthquake waves radiate outward in all directions from the earthquake source.
Vibrations from an earthquake can be recorded with a seismograph; a seismogram is
the recoding made by a seismograph.
The epicenter of an earthquake is the point on the earth’s surface directly above the
focus, or point of origin, of the earthquake.
Scientists can use data from seismograms recorded at several locations to pinpoint the
epicenter of an earthquake.
Major geological events, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and mountain
building, often occur in particular locations on the earth.




























The Ring of Fire is a zone of intense earthquake and volcanic activity that encircles the
Pacific Ocean basin.
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a zone of intense earthquake and volcanic activity the runs
down the middle of the Atlantic Ocean floor.
The Mediterranean-Himalayan Belt of earthquake and volcanic activity extends from
west of Indonesia through the Himalayas in Asia and the Mediterranean region.
Earthquake waves help scientists to construct hypotheses about the structure of the
earth’s interior.
The earth has layers, including a crust, a mantle, and a core; the core is divided into a
liquid outer core and a solid inner core.
The crust and ridge portion of the upper mantle make up the lithosphere, which is
broken into plates that move over a plastic-like portion of the mantle.
Lithospheric plates move at a rate of 2 to 20 cm per year.
Major geological events, such as earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountain building, can
result from plate movement.
Scientists and engineers construct models to help them understand how complex
systems behave.
Lithospheric plates on the surface of the earth slide past one another, collide, and
separate at the rate of 2 to 20 cm. per year.
Landforms-mid-ocean ridges, trenches, and mountains-form as a result of plate
movement.
Rock responds to the forces caused by plate movement by either folding (bending) or
fracturing (breaking).
Faults are fractures in the earth’s crust and upper mantle along which measurable
movement of rock has occurred.
Earthquakes occur along faults and are common along plate boundaries.
The earth has a rigid lithosphere that covers a hot convective mantle.
Convection currents within the earth’s mantle contribute to plate movement.
The mantle’s convection cells determine the location of ridges and trenches.
Interactions between the rigid lithosphere and the convective mantle cause plate
movement, which in turn generates most earthquakes and volcanoes.
Volcanic eruptions have both destructive and constructive effects.
Scientists formulate, test, and communicate to others their explanations of nature.
Communities can use the results of scientific risk analysis to evaluate their options for
reducing or eliminating the risks associated with a natural event.
Catastrophic events present challenges to people who forecast the effects and scale of
these events.
Constructive and destructive forces, which include volcanic eruptions, crate landforms
by adding new material to the earth’s surface.
Magma is molten rock beneath the earth’s surface.
Lava is magma that has reached the earth’s surface.
Lava flows, cools, and hardens on land and under water, forming layers of new rock.
One of the characteristic properties of a liquid is viscosity, or tendency to resist flow.
Viscosity is principally dependent on the composition and temperature of the liquid

























The shape of a mountain formed by volcanic eruptions depends on several factors, such
as the properties of the volcanic material ejected and the sequence and variety of
eruptions.
Scientists classify volcanoes on the basis of shape and size.
The three most common types of volcanoes are composite volcanoes, shield volcanoes,
and cinder cones.
Properties of igneous rock include observable color, mineral composition, and texture.
Properties of igneous rock can be identified using various observation tools.
A relationship exits between the process (such as volcanism) by which a rock forms and
the type of rock produced (such as volcanic igneous rock).
The rate of cooling of a given solution affects the size of the crystals formed.
Intrusive igneous rocks, which form when magma cools slowly beneath the earth’s
surface, have a coarse-grained crystalline texture.
Extrusive igneous rocks, which form when lava cools quickly on the earth’s surface,
have a fine-grained crystalline texture.
Some igneous rocks cool in two stages: under ground and on the earth’s surface.
There are three basic rock types: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic.
The rock cycle is a continuous process in which each of three basic rock types transforms
into one of the other rock types through episodes of mountain building, erosion,
sedimentation, melting, and recrystallization.
Violent eruptions can forcefully eject fragments of magma and rock from a volcano.
Volcanic ash is any fragmented volcanic material measuring less than 2 mm.
Properties of ash including appearance, texture, hardness, buoyancy, magnetism, and
density, vary greatly, depending on the substances from which the ash was derived.
The properties of a sample of volcanic ash reveal its general composition and its
potential effects on people, property, and the environment.
Igneous rocks such as tuff and volcanic breccia form when ash and other fragmented
volcanic materials consolidate into rock.
Ash and other volcanic materials can erupt into and settle out of the air.
The size of airborne volcanic materials affects how they move into and settle out of the
air.
The jet stream can distribute ash globally.
Volcanic eruptions can create human and environmental risks.
Ash deposits can create new land.
Ash that erupts from a volcano reflects some incoming solar radiation back into space,
lowering temperatures on the earth
Tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, and volcanoes are examples of natural
catastrophic events.
Where and why these natural catastrophic events occur reveals information about the
earth’s processes.
http://www.iris.edu/seismon/
Current and past earthquakes
http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/dynamic.html
Plate tectonics
http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/volc_images.html
Volcano pictures
http://www.iris.edu/seismon/
http://www.thetech.org/exhibits/online/quakes/app/
Plate tonics, s-waves, p-waves, focus,
scales
http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/volcanoes.edu
www.iris.edu/seismon/
Earthquakes
www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutgloss.shtml
Weather terms
www.fema.gov/kids/tornado.html
www.earthweek.com
Catastrophic Events Vocabulary
Storm Unit
map – a representation of the earth or a part of the earth.
globe – a representation of the earth on a sphere.
vortex – the movement of a liquid or a gas in a spiral around a central axis.
thunderstorm – a disturbance in the earth’s atmosphere that involves lightning and
thunder.
tornado – a violent windstorm that spirals around a rotating column of air (the vortex)
and moves in a narrow path over land.
hurricane – a massive system of rotating winds that forms over warm tropical waters.
radiation – the direct transfer of heat energy by electromagnetic waves.
Radiation transfers heat from one object to another without the space
between the objects necessarily being heated.
conduction – the process by which heat energy transfers from one
material to another through direct contact.
convection – heat energy transfers as a result of the circulating motion of a fluid,
usually a gas or liquid.
greenhouse gases – water vapor and carbon dioxide
greenhouse effect –when radiated energy is absorbed mainly by
greenhouse gases and clouds in the atmosphere. Much of the energy is
then re-radiated back to the earth.
temperature – an indication of the amount of heat energy in matter.
heat – a form of energy that transfers because of temperature differences.
air masses – bodies of air with nearly uniform conditions of temperature and
humidity.
stable (air mass) – when its temperature does not decrease with altitude – tends to
stay at the surface of the earth. Cold, dense air is normally stable
unstable (air mass) – when its temperature decreases rapidly with an increase in
altitude. Warm, less dense air is typically unstable.
latent heat – the heat required to change a substance from one state to another.
condensation – when water vapor rises to high altitude where the air is cold, it
changes into liquid or ice
convection currents – represents the vertical movement of warm air upward and
cool air downward due to the uneven heating of the earth’s surfaces
sea breeze – the flow of air from a body of water to land
land breeze – the flow of air from land to a body of water.
weather front – where air masses of different temperatures and humidity conditions
meet.
air pressure – the force that air exerts on everything on the earth.
clouds – visible masses of billions of tiny droplets of water or ice crystals that have
condensed around small particles in the atmosphere. Form when water vapor from
warm, rising air condenses as the air expands in low-pressure conditions.
current – a gas or liquid moves in a definite direction.
deep ocean current – currents that flow far beneath the surface of the ocean.
surface currents – currents of wind and water flowing due to global wind patterns.
upwelling – deep, cold ocean currents can sometimes rise along coastal areas when
winds blow the warm surface water aside
Earthquake Unit
earthquake – the shaking and vibrations of the earth caused by large and sudden
releases of energy that accompany movement, or displacement, of the outermost
layer of the earth, called the crust.
crust – the outermost layer of the earth.
fault – a fracture in the earth’s crust where there has already been some movement.
mantle – a layer of the earth that lies beneath the crust
lithosphere – the earth’s crust and the uppermost mantle.
lithospheric plates – large broken pieces of the earth made of the earth’s crust and
uppermost mantle.
seismologists – scientists who study earthquakes.
focus – the point of origin of an earthquake.
seismic waves – vibrations generated by earthquakes
body waves – seismic waves that travel through the body of the earth.
surface waves – seismic waves that travel on the surface of the earth.
P-waves (primary waves -“push and pull”) – are compressional waves because they
compress and expand the material through which they travel. They travel faster than
S-waves – first wave to reach the seismic station.
S-waves (secondary waves – “side to side”)– are transverse waves they vibrate
perpendicular to the direction of the wave motion. They travel slower than the Pwaves.
seismograph – an instrument produces a permanent recording of vibrations emitted
by even the smallest earthquakes.
seismogram – the recording produced by the vibrations emitted from an earthquake.
aftershock – an earthquake that follows a larger earthquake, or main shock, and
originates along the same fault as the main shock.
epicenter – the point above the earth’s surface that is directly above the focus.
Plate Tectonic Theory – states that the earth is broken into 9-12 oceanic and
continental plates, which move in relationship to the three oceanic ridges at a rate of
2-20 cm per year.
layers of the earth - the crust, the mantle, and the core (liquid outer core and a
solid inner core).
oceanic crust – approximately 5-10 km thick and lies beneath ocean waters.
continental crust – contains landmasses and ranges from 15-70 km – thickest in the
mountainous areas.
asthenosphere – layer beneath the lithosphere – hotter than the lithosphere, the
asthenosphere is solid but flows readily and behaves like soft taffy or toothpaste. It is
on this portion that the lithospheric plates “float,” move, and interact.
– occurs when edges of continental or oceanic plates move toward each other and
collide.
subduction – when the oceanic plate slides under the continental plate, bending
downward beneath the continent.
deep-sea trench – when two oceanic plates, one colder and denser slides beneath
the less dense, younger plate. The subducting plate bends as it sinks.
divergent plate boundaries – occurs when two plates separate.
mid-ocean ridge – an underwater chain of volcanoes, whose high topography is due
to differences in density between the rising hot rock and the cooler rock on the
seafloor.
transform plate boundaries – occur when plates slide past one another.
Volcano Unit
magma – molten rock beneath the earth’s surface.
lava – magma that has reached the earth’s surface.
volcano – a landform, usually conical, produced by accumulations of erupted
material around a vent or opening in the surface of the earth through which gas and
erupted materials pass.
rift valleys – areas where continental plates stretch and thin over a long period of
time.
hot spots – localized zones of melting in the mantle under the plate beneath
volcanoes.
ash – any fragmented volcanic material measuring less than 2 mm.
fissure eruptions – an eruption when molten rock flows through cracks in the earth’s
crust and floods the surrounding landscape.
freezing – the change in phase of a substance from a liquid to a solid
melting – the change from a solid to a liquid.
melting point – the temperature at which a particular substance begins to melt.
magma chamber – a pool of magma within the earth.
lava dome – thick lava that emerges from a volcano in a steep-sided bulbous
structure.
caldera – a large steep-sided circular or oval volcanic depression.
crater – smaller circular depressions created primarily by exploding rock during
eruptions (bowl-shaped depression at the summit).
pillow lava – forms when the lava cools quickly in the cold ocean.
viscosity – the property in which a liquid has a tendency to resist flow.
composite volcanoes – Steep, conical volcanoes formed by the alternating eruption
of viscous lava flows and rock fragments.
shield volcanoes – volcanoes with broad, gentle slopes formed almost entirely from
the eruption of less viscous lava flows.
cinder cone – the simplest type of volcano. Forms from congealed lava and rock
fragments that have been ejected from a single vent.
cinders – pebble-sized rock fragments that have the same composition as ash.
mineral – a naturally formed, inorganic solid composed of one or more elements.
compounds – chemical combinations of two or more elements.
rocks – combinations of minerals
Igneous rock – forms when rock melts and then cools and crystallizes either under
or one the earth’s surface.
texture – size, shape, and arrangement of the mineral crystals of a rock.
Peridotite – a dark-green rock that is composed mainly of a green mineral called
olivine. Peridotite is believed to form the bulk of the upper mantle.
intrusive igneous rocks – form underground from magma, such as granite and
gabbro
extrusive igneous rocks – form when magma reaches the earth’s surface during
volcanic eruptions.
Obsidian – a volcanic rock that forms from lava that is so viscous that its chemical
components cannot combine to form crystals.
solvent – a substance that dissolves another substance.
solute – is the substance dissolved in the solvent.
solution – is the mixture that forms when a gas, liquid, or solid disperses evenly
throughout a gas, liquid, or solid, without a chemical change taking place.
crystals – solid substance with regular geometric shapes.
Pumice – molten rock that forms a light, porous volcanic glass.
vesicles – holes found in pumice from gas bubbles that are trapped in the liquid
escape.
pyroclastic rock – any fragmented volcanic material, such as ash, that is ejected out
of a volcano, settles out of the atmosphere, and accumulates and consolidates into
rock on the earth’s surface
Create a Family Disaster Plan.

Meet with your family and discuss the need to prepare for a disaster.

Develop a plan to share responsibilities and work together as a team.

Establish meeting places inside and outside your home and outside the
neighborhood. Make sure everyone knows when and how to contact each
other if separated.

Decide on the best escape routes from your home. Find two ways out of
each room.

Establish an out-of-state family contact (friend or relative). Call this
person after the disaster to let them know where you are and if you are
okay. Make sure everyone knows the contact's phone number.

Learn what to do in an evacuation and what you should and cannot take to
a shelter.
Practice and Maintain Your Plan.

Test your children's knowledge of the plan every 6 months.

Conduct fire and emergency evacuation drills.

Replace stored water every 3 months and stored food every 6 months.

Test your smoke detectors monthly and change the batteries once a year.
Build a disaster supply kit
A disaster supply kit should include:

A 3-day supply of water (one gallon per person per day) and food that
won't spoil;

Change of clothing and footwear per person;

First-aid kit, including prescription medicines;

One blanket or sleeping bag per person;

Emergency tools including a battery-powered radio and flashlight and
extra batteries;

An extra set of car keys and a credit card or cash; and

Special items for infants or other family members (formula, diapers,
bottles, powdered milk, denture and contact lenses supplies, extra eye
glasses).
http://www.fema.gov/kids/dizkit.htm
 Watch the Weather Channel or weather forecast on the local news. Based
upon the observations of the maps, forecast the weather for the next few
days.
 Based upon the forecasted weather, identify the clothing you will wear the
next few days.
 Using the Saturday Pittsburgh Post Gazette, read the “Diary of Planet
Earth Week” found on page 2. Identify the areas around the world where
catastrophic events have occurred this week.