Catastrophic Events
Students Learn
Storms overview and premodule assessment.
The causes and effects of
storms.
Lesson
PART 1: STORMS
Lesson 1:
Thinking About
Catastrophic
Events
Lesson 2:
Introducing
Storms
Heat can be transferred
by radiation, convection,
and radiation. The
surfaces of the Earth
absorb and reflect the
sun’s rays unevenly.
Warm surfaces radiate
heat energy and warm the
air above them. Cool
surfaces absorb heat
energy and cool the air
above them.
Lesson 3: Heating
Earth’s Surfaces
The upward movement of
warm air and the
downward movement of
cool air form convection
currents, which move
heat through the
troposphere. Fronts form
at the boundary between
two air masses with
different temperature,
pressure, and humidity
conditions.
Precipitation,
thunderstorms,
tornadoes, and hurricanes
often develop in lowpressure weather
conditions (or when warm
and cold air masses
meet).
Lesson 5:
Convection
Currents in the
Air
Lesson 4: Heat
Transfer and the
Movement of Air
Lesson 6:
Temperature,
Pressure, and
Cloud Formation
Students Do
Students create a concept map about
natural catastrophic events and use a
globe and map to locate places on
Earth where they think catastrophic
events take place.
Students use cylinders of water to
simulate the vortex of a storm and
discuss possible causes of the circular
movement.
Students investigate, graph, and
analyze the uneven heating and
cooling rates of soil and water.
Students manipulate the temperature
inside a clear cylinder to investigate
the effect that surface temperature
has on the temperature of the air
above it. Using smoke as a flow
indicator, students also investigate
the effect that surface temperature
has on airflow.
Students connect two cylinders and
observe the formation of convection
currents. Then they relate their
observations of air movement in the
lab to weather fronts and the
formation of winds.
Students use sealed bottles of water
to investigate the conditions under
which water evaporates and
condenses. They manipulate the air
pressure in these closed systems to
determine the effect of high-and lowpressure systems on cloud formation.
Then they apply their observations to
weather maps and draw conclusions
about the conditions under which
clouds and storms form and move.
Oceans have a major
effect on climate.
Lesson 7: Ocean
Currents and
Global Climate
Convection currents in the
atmosphere and the
oceans and uneven
heating of the Earth’s
surface affect the
weather patterns on
Earth.
Natural catastrophic
events can present
personal and societal
challenges.
Lesson 8: Storms
Assessment
Earthquakes are
destructive forces that
have particular causes,
effects, and locations.
PART 2:
EARTHQUAKES
Lesson 10:
Introducing
Earthquakes
Lesson 11: When
The Earth Shakes
Energy produced by an
earthquake travels in
waves.
Lesson 9:
Exploring Risks
Through An
Anchor Activity
Earthquake waves can be
recorded, and information
on their origin can be
used to find the
earthquake’s epicenter.
Lesson 12:
Recording
Earthquake
Waves
Patterns in earthquake
locations reveal plate
boundaries.
Lesson 13:
Plotting
Earthquakes
Students apply their understanding of
heat and convection to the conditions
under which oceans gain heat energy
and form currents. They plot major
ocean currents to determine their
influence on global weather patterns.
Students complete a performance
assessment and a summative
assessment to complete the first part
of this module.
Students will complete a research
project and an oral presentation
concerning risk reduction and/or risk
analysis of a natural catastrophic
event.
Students review what they know and
think they know about earthquakes.
Students examine the ways in which
energy from an earthquake travels
and analyze how earthquake waves
affect ground motion. They design
and build model structures resistant
to shaking in order to demonstrate
the importance of reducing the risks
associated with earthquakes.
Students use a model seismograph to
examine how the energy from
earthquake waves is recorded. Using
earthquake wave data recorded from
three seismograph stations, students
model the mathematical processes
seismologists use to pinpoint the
location of an earthquake epicenter.
Students plot earthquake epicenters
on a world map. As they analyze the
earthquake locations, they see the
outlines of the Earth’s plate
boundaries.
Earthquake waves help
reveal information about
the earth’s interior.
Lesson 14: Using
Earthquakes to
Study the Earth’s
Interior
Plate movement and
faults are a cause of
earthquakes and
volcanoes.
Lesson 15:
Investigating
Plate Movement
and Faults
Convection inside the
earth is a cause of plate
movement.
Lesson 16:
Convection in the
Mantle
All concepts from Lessons
10-16.
Lesson 17:
Earthquakes
Assessment
Volcanic eruptions have
both destructive and
constructive effects.
PART 3:
VOLCANOES
Lesson 18:
Introducing
Volcanoes
Lesson 19:
Students use two different substances
Volcanoes Change to simulate magma and lava flow and
the Landscape
consider the constructive influences
of volcanic materials on land
formation.
Lesson 20:
Students classify photographs of nine
Viscosity and
volcanoes by type and analyze why
Volcano Types
they are not all the same shape and
size. They also test thee viscosity of
several liquids and analyze how
different variables change viscosity.
Students then examine how the
viscosity of lava affects the formation
of volcanoes.
Lesson 21:
Students examine igneous rocks,
Igneous Rock
which form when cooling molten rock
crystallizes under or on the Earth’s
surface. Students use a magnifier to
examine the properties of five
igneous rock samples and classify the
Land formation is one of
the constructive effects
of volcanic activity.
Viscosity of lava affects
volcano type.
Properties of rocks
include color, mineral
compositions, and
texture. Texture is
affected by rate of
crystallization.
Students use computer simulations to
examine the Earth’s internal
structure and investigate the
interactions between plates and the
movement along faults as a cause of
earthquakes.
Students analyze a relief globe to
discover that landforms--mid-ocean
ridges, mountains, and trenches—are
among the constructive results of
plat interactions.
Students observe a simulation of
convection currents and compare
that with computer images of the
Earth’s mantle.
Students complete a performance
assessment and a summative
assessment to complete the second
part of this module.
Students watch videos and reflect on
their observations of volcanoes.
Lesson 22:
Exploring Igneous
Rock Formation
Ash has constructive and
destructive effects.
Lesson 23:
Volcanic Ash
Ash fall affects local and
global weather.
Lesson 24:
Effects of Ash
Fall
Tornadoes, hurricanes,
Lesson 25:
earthquakes, and
Volcanoes
volcanoes are examples of Assessment
natural catastrophic
events. Where and why
these natural catastrophic
events occur reveals
information about the
Earth’s processes.
samples on the basis of color, mineral
composition, and texture.
Students explore rates of crystalline
texture, how three of the previous
rocks have formed. Students review
the rock cycle.
Students collect data on the
properties of ash, including its
hardness, settling rate, magnetism,
texture, and appearance.
Students design their own
experiments to simulate the eruption
of pyroclastic ash. They examine the
constructive and destructive effects
of ash fall on humans, the
environment, and global weather.
Students carry out an investigation in
which they explore the effects of ash
fall on the temperature of the Earth’s
surface. They must control variables,
set up a data table to collect
temperature and time data, record
observations, graph data, and draw
conclusions that relate to concepts in
the module.
Students complete a series of higherlevel thinking questions about Part 3
concepts.
Students complete a post-module
assessment that matches the premodule assessment from Lesson 1.