Natural Disasters and Hazards Lesson

Natural Disasters/ Hazards

Major question: How can people stay safe from natural disasters?

​I can identify a range of natural hazards people face including fires, landslides, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tornadoes, hurricanes or floods.

​You need: paper and a pencil, please!

Poll

Hurricanes and other natural disasters often have a significant impact on human communities and ecosystems. Have you lived through an extreme weather event like a hurricane?

• yes

• no

• I am not sure.

Multiple Choice

What is a natural hazard?

• road work

• nature threatens to have a negative outcome on humans.

• living things

Multiple Choice

What is another word for “dangers of the environment”?

• hazards

• effects

• outcomes

Multiple Choice

Sometimes the regions people choose have built-in dangers in their ______

• environments

• structures

• atmosphere

​Tornadoes form during thunderstorms, when windy conditions create a spinning mass of air. If this vortex touches the ground, it becomes a tornado. These storms can happen anywhere.

​Hurricanes form over the ocean. They strengthen by drawing energy from the water’s warmth. Heat energy is like fuel for a big storm. The hotter the water, the more energy the hurricane can gather. These storms typically impact coastal areas.

​Both tornadoes and hurricanes can rip apart houses and destroy most things in their path.

Multiple Choice

Earth’s _____________ can be damaged by weather.

• water

• atmosphere

• surface

Multiple Choice

An ice storm is dangerous because

• here are long periods of time without power

• trees and power lines can break under the extra weight of the ice

• winds blow in excess of 35 mph or more

Multiple Choice

Blizzards are dangerous because the wind _________.

• lowers the temperature

• causes floods

• blows the snow around

Open Ended

List 2 things you learned in our lesson on natural hazards today.

Open Ended

List 2 questions you have about what we learned about natural hazards.