Overview and Philosophy
Rather than return to the ‘ole days of tectonics, quakes, and hurricanes we will not take class time to rip into
these “moments”. So by exploring a disaster type of your choice you will have the opportunity to discuss a
system of your choice and liking.
purpose
To show that physical processes and peril to humans are a part of earth’s situation
Your job
You will research one of a collection of natural perils, reporting on 12 single events of the peril.
e.g. your peril choice- floods
your reporting- 12 different floods
due date
To Be Announced According To Semester.
Semester value
10% of your semester mark.
What to pass in
A) Twelve fact sheets highlighting this information concerning each of the twelve events. In order to qualify,
each event must have at least SEVEN of these items:
 when
 where (include as much of these as you can find lat/long, cities, landforms, bodies of water, human
features)
 loss of human life
 loss of wildlife
 property damage
 human response
 stories of heroism
 environmental damage
 geographic area (size) and intensity
 length of time the event lasted
B) Write two lists, the first pointing out the COMMON items found on your fact sheets and the second
pointing out the DIFFERENT items found on your fact sheets.
C) Map and Listing
1. Along with your 12 fact sheet events, pinpoint 30 additional events of your disaster choice. e.g.- if your
event is floods, your map must pinpoint the 12 floods on your fact sheets plus 30 additional floods.
When plotting, do not name the events. Rather, use a symbol.
2. Plot your events onto Moroney’s map of the earth’s most densely populated zones.
3. Provide a written list of all 42 events identified by place and date.
D) Analysis Questions:
1. Is there a geographic location pattern between the zones of your disaster with the zones of densest
population? Describe what you see on the map.
2. Why do humans live in and adjacent to zones where natural calamities occur on a regular basis? Please
explain with three to five reasons.
Location of references
(refer to sheet “WHAT ARE YOU GOOD FOR? )
Bibliography
All sources must be properly annotated, especially the internet sites.
Possible perils list
You will select one of these disasters.
Any disaster not on this list, consult Mr. M. before beginning your research.
Geologic
Atmospheric
Biotic
a) quakes
a) floods
a) locusts
b) volcanoes
b) droughts
b) ants
c) landslides
c) hurricanes
c) killer bees
d) mudslides
d) typhoons
d) diseases
e) rockslides
e) natural fires
e) viruses
f) tsunamis
f) famines
f) plagues
g) avalanches
g) cyclones
Evaluation
One - If you pass in these items and score perfectly, your maximum grade will be 8/10:
1. twelve fact sheets on ten events (e.g.- 12 fact sheets on 12 volcanoes)
2. a list of common and different aspects of these twelve events
3. the map pinpointing 42 events on Moroney’s map of the most densely populated zones of the world
4. answers to the two analysis questions
Two - If you pass in these items and score perfectly, your maximum grade will be 10/10. As the resident
geographer at Lockview, I’ll judge the value of your work. Based on past experience the work done by my
students has always been excellent.
ONE- explain the connections between your disaster and planet earth.
i.e.- Geologic perils must be connected to plate tectonics
- Atmospheric perils must be connected to climate, weather, wind systems and ocean currents
- Biotic perils must be connected to climate, natural vegetation and water
e.g- Quakes- research must show the mechanics of quake creation within the tectonics system – thus you
would discuss seafloor spreading, plate subduction, faulting, magma movement and bedrock.
TWO – Onto a world map show the mechanics of the planetary system that creates your disaster.
e.g.- typhoons – on the map draw zones of typhoon occurrence, wind systems creating these storms, ocean
currents and time of year these form.
NOTE ON FORMAT OF THE FINAL PRODUCT
You can e-mail it to me at: sjm1156@gmail.com or
You can write it longhand
You can create a power point and present it to me at a pre-arranged time
You can do it in Word format and pass it in on paper
You can do it in Word format and pass it in on disk
What Are You good For?
The best place for fact sheets: United Nations- news and analysis on all disasters
http://www.un.org/ In the space below, record these steps for navigating through
the site in order to find the precise location for the best info:
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All about earthquakes- right! A website about earthquakes.
http://www.pgc.nrcan.gc.ca/seismo/eqinfo/q-a.htm
Any kind of severe storms and droughts check out these folks. Hit the search box
for the climatic event of your choice. http://www.noaa.gov/
More info on tropical storms and weather outside North America can be found at
the University of Hawaii
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Canadian Geographic online- back issues and current issues on events
http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/
 Canadian Hurricane Centre- lists of storms and info about how these work. Also
they have other events.
http://www.ns.ec.gc.ca/weather/hurricane/index_e.html
 CBC Newsworld- current events updates and disasters at the moment
http://cbc.ca/newsworld/
 CBC weather- info about meteorological “stuff” http://cbc.ca/weather/
 Discovery online- questions and info about many of these disasters
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http://www.discovery.com/
Environment News service- up to date news and analysis concerning the
environment http://www.ensnews.com/
Environment Canada- mostly weather related news and facts http://www.ec.gc.ca/
Geological Survey of Canada- news and info on quakes, volcanoes and other rock
news. http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/gsc/index_e.html
Lonely Planet- tourist stuff about cities and nations with the odd bit of info on
landscapes which might help with your particular disaster
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/
Lycos Environment News- info and current issues in envir. Including disasters
http://www.ens.lycos.com/
National Earthquake Centre- you guessed right- all about quakes and lists of
quakes too. http://wwwneic.cr.usgs.gov/neis/eqlists/sig_2001.html
Science and Environment Bulletin- environment and disaster news from current
and back issues http://www.ec.gc.ca/science/htm
Volcano World- an entire web devoted to vols.
http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vw.html
Smithsonian Institute- geological disasters
http://www.volcano.si.edu/gvp/index.htm
Weather Channel-? Says enough http://www.theweathernetwork.com/
United States Geol. Survey- like ours! Go to the search box and put in the disaster
of your choosing. http://www.usgs.org/
National Geographic- in depth articles and photos and maps
http:/www.nationalgeographic.com
World Health Organization- biotic events and all health related issues
http://www.who.org/
Food and Agriculture Organization- info about current food safety and supply
issues http://www.fao.org/
All sorts of disasters: www.disaster.com
Diseases: the Centre for Disease Control: www.cdc.org
People related issues:
Avalanches: www.avalanche.com
Avalanches: go to Environment Canada. www.ec.gc.ca