Natural Disasters Research Project

Introduction:

A natural disaster is any catastrophic event that is caused by nature or the natural processes of the earth. The severity of a disaster is measured in lives lost, economic loss, and the ability of the population to rebuild. Events that occur in unpopulated areas are not considered disasters. So a flood on an uninhabited island would not count as a disaster, but a flood in a populated area is called a natural disaster. The wrath of Mother Nature is unpredictable at times. Having a solid understanding of the factors that cause natural disasters is the first step in being able to predict them. Although natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, volcanic eruptions, tornadoes and hurricanes cannot be prevented, natural disaster projects can give students a unique perspective on the factors that contribute to them.

Your Task:

Research a Natural Disaster that has occurred in our World and present your findings in a Prezi or a PowerPoint. You must investigate the following aspects of the disaster and use them as sub-headings in your project:

• Where, When, What Type of disaster occurred. 
• Explain how this type of disaster happens.
• How the disaster affected the people and land in that area.
• What the aftermath has been following the disaster.
• Any technological advancement that has been created to monitor or predict future disasters.
• What preparations are made or taken in an emergency situation for your disaster.

Elements to consider:

• Your information needs to be written in your own words.
• Subheadings to divide up your research.
• Neat presentation skills that show a mixture of information and pictures and diagrams.
• References listed. eg, books, websites, videos

Project Requirements:

• Define your natural disaster
  • Include commons parts of the world where these types of natural disasters occur.  
• Describe the area in which your natural disaster occurred. 
  • Be specific in its location; if your project is about 1815 volcanic eruption of Mount Tambora, don't merely tell me it is in Indonesia.  Which part of Indonesia? Which island? Geographical coordinates? 
  • Include details about the history, population, and culture of the area. Include any information of previous natural disaster events. 
• Describe the natural disaster event. 
  • It may have taken place on one single day or a few days depending on the disaster of your choosing.  What time did it occur? How long did it last? What precautions were taken? Were there any warning signs? Was there an evacuation plan implemented? How big of an area did it impact? 
• Describe the aftermath of the natural disaster. 
  • How many people lost their lives? How many were injured or lost their homes? How much financial damage did this cause? How did this affect their natural resources? When were conditions restored back to normal?
• Describe what was learned or improved upon since the natural disaster.
  • Have evacuation plans changed? What strategies has the area done to improve upon future similar natural disasters.  How has this natural disaster helped improve other areas that may experience the same type of natural disaster?
• Include pictures (nothing gross please) and diagrams/graphs/charts to help illustrate the severity of the event.  You should include at least 10. 
• Include at resources/works cited page where you found your information.  You should have at least 3 different resources.

You will be given 2 full days of class time to work on this.  THIS WILL BE GRADED AS A TEST!  It will be due Wednesday, May 2.  

The following are some examples of natural disaster events you could choose from.  You don't have to choose from this list, but it will give you a place to start:

• Black Saturday Brushfires 2009
• Hurricane Katrina, 2005
• Boxing Day Indonesian Tsunami 2004
• Newcastle Earthquake 1989
• Volcano Mount St. Helens 1980
• Volcano Mt Vesuvius 79 AD
• Typhoon Cobra 1944
• Typhoon Haiyan 2013
• Ash Wednesday Bushfires 1983
• Tokyo Earthquake 1923, 1995
• Christchurch Earthquake 2011
• Cyclone Tracy 1974
• Volcano Mt Etna 1669, 2000
• Japanese Tsunami 2011
• California Earthquake 1989, 1994