Starter Activities in Geography
EXTREME NATURAL EVENTS/
DISASTERS
1. Geography Songs:
Volcanic Eruptions http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9PgmUcaCDM
Continental Drift
Earthquake
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Saxh_mGHt1I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sA6oZ4YgKCA
Earthquakes – rock moves aside
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcVwAn8W‐jo
Ring of Fire – eruption http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnilQsno2WI
Hurricanes and Twisters http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOw6ONcKk4g
Earthquake – aftershocks http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DppbibMhAXU
Pangea’s moving apart again http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyT8Xs6Ab‐k
Volcanoes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=‐nEUUVPTtUI
2. http://video.about.com/geography/The-Pacific-Ring-of-Fire.htm - Pacific ring
of fire
3. http://video.about.com/geography/All-About-Hurricanes.htm - all about
hurricanes
4. A good one for those of you who integrate geographic issues into your
teaching. It superimposes the size of several disasters over areas that students
recognize to bring home the scale of the disaster.
http://howbigreally.com/#New_Zealand
5. This is a map showing the tracks of hurricanes over the last 170 years that
clearly identifies the regions at most risk in each hemisphere.
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/08/hurricane-tracks/
6. Try the following images to discuss the concept of change. It shows a before
and after shot of world wide events including 9/11 so topical.
http://mashable.com/2013/09/03/google-earth-beforeafter/#gallery/shocking-google-earth-before-and-afterimages/5226552312d2cd32b3000519
7. A great article in the NZ Herald on the threat of a tsunami in Wellington. Be
good for ENE
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11130692
8.If students have ever asked if there is a relationship between earthquakes and
volcanic eruptions then this new 'island' that appeared off the coast of Pakistan
confirms it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUM6Y6hNObU
6.There are some great videos on Volcanos and Earthquakes and Erosion
processes in the Earth Science section of the high school courses.
http://education-portal.com/academy/course/index.html
7. This is on the melting of the ice-caps and the effect on the world in the long
term. Some fabulous, albeit frightening information here especially for those of
us in the north Island! The original interactive map can be seen at:
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/09/rising-seas/if-ice-melted-map
The NZ herald article from this is at:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11154043
8. One of the most severe ENE in 2013 was the typhoon in the Philippines. Here
are several articles on this:
9. A video that is not too graphic but gives a good understanding of the scale of
the typhoon:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/08/typhoon-haiyan-battersphilippines
10. Some amazing before and after shots of the areas most affected. Roll over the
image to see the change:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/specials/typhoon-haiyan-photos-before-after/
11. A great article that looks at the link between the typhoon and climate change
and compares this storm to others. Some great global patterns here also:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/13/typhoon-haiyan-climatechange_n_4269640.html?1384446743
12. This is the most comprehensive of the articles looking at the areas affected
and tracking the storm:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24891456
13. Another map tracking the path of typhoon Haiyan
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2013/11/interactivemaptracking-typhoon-haiyan-20131191288605973.html
14. Especially for juniors is this 'all you need to know about cyclones' sheet
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=1115434
8
2014
15. If you have students wondering if the rise in Extreme Natural Events in NZ is
something to be worried about direct them to this recent article in the NZ Herald
saying why we should not move to Australia yet!
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11195726
16. An article that was in the NZ Herald that has some wonderful maps looking at
the risk of natural disasters in
NZ. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=1120006
3 This is fabulous for those of you doing tsunami, earthquakes or volcanoes or
even if you don't would be a great discussion point.
17. A series of fabulous photos taken during typhoon Haiyan last year which
give you a great insight as to the effects of the disaster on
people. http://www.newsweek.com/instagramming-typhoon-haiyan224166?%3F%3F%3F
18. If you cover earthquakes for your ENE this little gem was produced by
Minute Earth explaining liquefaction. It has a great title of 'What Happened to
this car?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Uwxr42JqYQ
19. For those of you doing volcanic Eruptions for your ENE is this 10 minute
video on Volcanic Landforms. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tigRGNgaWE
20. This one is on volcanoes - it shows an aerial photograph of major volcanoes
in the world that allows you to discuss different volcanic
features http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/media/volcanosatellite-images/?ar_a=4
21. This deals with disaster response and looks at the recent flooding in the UK
but is updated as new disasters occur. http://www.esri.com/services/disasterresponse/floods/uk-flooding-maps
22. This site has personal stories of how residents coped with the recent flooding
in Christchurch. http://publicaddress.net/up-front/floodland/
23. Some great photos of the massive earthquake off Chile in April
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2014/04/earthquake_off_the_coast_of_chile
.html
24. This resource explains how recent science has helped to mitigate the effects
of an
earthquake http://www.salon.com/2014/04/07/earthquake_shield_how_scien
ce_could_deflect_the_big_one/
25. this is a link to the updated geonet page that monitors present
quakes http://www.weatherwatch.co.nz/geonet
26. Plus this one also earthquake related looks at the global pattern from
different angles http://uxblog.idvsolutions.com/2012/06/earthquakes-since1898.html