6th Grade Social Studies: World Geography and Global Issues Unit 2: The World in Spatial Terms Lesson 8. Lesson Graphic Organizer

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1 Lesson Graphic Organizer How are they different from natural hazards? Natural Disasters What are their effects? When are they global problems? Michigan Citizenship Collaborative Curriculum Page 1 of 11

2 Big Idea Card Big Ideas of the Lesson 8, Unit 2 Natural disasters occur when a natural hazard results in widespread severe damage, injury, or loss of life or property, with which a community or society cannot cope and during which the affected area undergoes severe disruption. Natural disasters have environmental, health, social, economic, and political effects. The effects of natural disasters can be lessened through disaster mitigation projects such as strict building codes and disaster preparedness projects such as earthquake training programs. Michigan Citizenship Collaborative Curriculum Page 2 of 11

3 Word Cards Teacher Note: A glossary of terms has been included for Lessons 7-9, and can be found in the Supplemental Materials for Lesson mitigation to make something less harsh, severe, or violent 26 preparedness a state of full readiness, ready for action Example: Since we cannot prevent natural hazards, the most sensible strategy appears to be mitigation of their eventual effects. 27 building codes (SS060208) Example: There are a few concrete steps we can take together now to improve preparedness for an influenza pandemic. (SS060208) a set of rules that specify the minimum acceptable level of safety for constructed facilities Example: Building codes in California include provisions for potential earthquakes. (SS060208) Michigan Citizenship Collaborative Curriculum Page 3 of 11

4 What Are Disasters? PowerPoint Notes Page 1 Natural hazards such as earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, and droughts spring to mind when the word disaster is mentioned. But a disaster should be defined on the basis of its human consequences, not on the phenomenon that caused it. An earthquake, for example, is simply an event in nature. Even a very strong one is not a disaster unless it causes injury or destroys property. Thus an earthquake occurring in an uninhabited area (as do scores of major tremors each month) is only of scientific interest and is not considered a disaster. PREDICT: What do you think the rest of the text will be about? When a natural event does affect a human settlement, the result may still not be a major disaster. Consider the earthquake that struck San Fernando, California, in The quake registered 6.4 on the Richter scale, yet the region around San Fernando Valley (with a population of over seven million people) suffered only minor damage and 58 deaths. Two years later, though, an earthquake of a magnitude of 6.2 struck Managua, Nicaragua, and reduced the center of the city to rubble, killing an estimated 6,000 people. VISUALIZE: Draw what you think the center of Managua looked like. A disaster can be more precisely defined as an occurrence of widespread severe damage, injury, or loss of life or property with which a community cannot cope and during which the society undergoes severe disruption. CLARIFY: In your own, words explain what a disaster is. Michigan Citizenship Collaborative Curriculum Page 4 of 11

5 PowerPoint Notes Page 2 While some developed nations may be as prone to disasters as poor nations, the people of wealthier nations are not as vulnerable to disasters; not as many die as in poorer nations nor does the infrastructure collapse as easily. Tokyo, Japan, and Managua, Nicaragua, are both prone to earthquakes. But the people of Tokyo are far less vulnerable to injury by earthquake because Tokyo has strictly enforced building codes, zoning regulations, and earthquake training and communications systems. In Managua, there are still many people living in top-heavy mud houses on hillsides. They are vulnerable. CONNECT: What natural disaster is our community most vulnerable to? Why? Landslides or flooding disasters are closely linked to rapid and unchecked urbanization that forces low-income families to settle on the slopes of steep hillsides or ravines, or along the banks of floodprone rivers. In other disasters, such as cyclones and tsunamis, humans can increase their vulnerability by removing bits of their natural environment that may act as buffers to these extreme natural forces. Such acts include destroying reefs, cutting natural wind breaks, and clearing inland forests. EVALUATE: In your opinion do humans cause some natural disasters to occur? In conclusion, natural hazards are agents or trigger mechanisms that can come into contact with a vulnerable human condition to result in a disaster. QUESTION: What question do you have based on the text? Source: Natural Hazards: Causes and Effects. 12 August Michigan Citizenship Collaborative Curriculum Page 5 of 11

6 Active Reading Strategies Student Reference Sheet Predict Try to figure out what information will come next and how the selection might end. Visualize Describe the images you see as the author describes them. Use the details from the text to create a visual image. Clarify Summarize/explain what you have read. Question Ask questions about the text. Connect Connect personally with what you are reading. Think of similarities between the descriptions in the text selection and what you have personally experienced, seen, heard or previously read. Evaluate Form opinions about what you ve read. Michigan Citizenship Collaborative Curriculum Page 6 of 11

7 PowerPoint Notes Page 3 Health Effects Your idea: Example from the PowerPoint Presentation: Social Effects Your idea: Example from the PowerPoint Presentation: Economic Effects Your idea: Example from the PowerPoint Presentation: Political Effects Your idea: Example from the PowerPoint Presentation: Environmental Effects Your idea: Example from the PowerPoint Presentation: Michigan Citizenship Collaborative Curriculum Page 7 of 11

8 Former Principal Shares Experiences CANNON BEACH As the tsunami approached Kesennuma City, Japan, people ran to one of the highest points in the area: Kesennuma Junior High School, 150 feet high. By the time the earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011 subsided, more than 800 people had crowded into the school, built for 345 students. There they stayed, for nearly six months, with 40 people to a classroom, sleeping on futons and crowding around kerosene stoves while it snowed outside. Meanwhile, students attended classes, helped to shovel snow, and when it finally arrived three days later distributed food. Hajime Saito, who recently retired as principal of the junior high school, told the story of how his school became an evacuation center in appearances in Portland and Cannon Beach this week as part of the Portland Earthquake Project. PREDICT: What do you think the rest of the text will be about? When the magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck at 2:46 p.m. March 11, 2011, it felt like three earthquakes, each lasting three minutes each, Saito said. Because the school, built about 40 years ago, had been gradually brought up to seismic codes the last upgrade was completed just a month prior to the earthquake the only damage suffered was eight broken windows. Other schools and buildings also survived the earthquake, Saito said, because of strong national seismic regulations. But when the tsunami struck 15 minutes later, much of the city collapsed, and fires, caused by leaking oil tanks along the coast broke out. Waves reaching as high as 60 feet poured into the second floors of some buildings on the main street of Kesennuma City, a town of 60,000 people in the Tohoku region. VISUALIZE: Draw what you think the tsunami looked like. Michigan Citizenship Collaborative Curriculum Page 8 of 11

9 It took 24 hours before the tsunami waves subsided, but at their strongest they were able to move several large ships 300 meters inland. People who tried to flee in their cars were caught in traffic jams. Those who left their cars and ran survived, Saito said, but many of those who stayed were washed away. Those who evacuated to the school were housed temporarily in the gymnasium and later in the classrooms. CLARIFY: How and why were the effects of the earthquake different from those of the tsunami? Although the school had some supplies for 400 people, they weren t enough, added Saito, who said he wished he had had more water, food, blankets, heaters and sanitary supplies. There were only 100 blankets to be shared by 800 people, and it was snowing outside. Students had to sleep without blankets, and it was very cold, he said. Finally, people wrapped themselves in the curtains they removed from the windows. Kerosene heaters eventually arrived and were placed in classrooms for people to get warm. There was no water nor food at first, Saito said. A few days after the earthquake, firefighters from Tokyo, about 150 miles away, brought a tanker to the school and hooked a hose to a fire hydrant for drinking water. Water from the local swimming pool was used to flush the toilets in the school. CONNECT: Describe a personal connection to what happened to these students and their school. Three days later, city officials arrived with food cold rice bowls. Long lines formed outside, but those in the lines were patient, Saito said. In our culture, we take care of others first, he added. Saito noted that the school was only a few blocks from the City Hall, but those in remote areas couldn t get assistance for quite awhile until the U.S. Marines dropped supplies from helicopters. Michigan Citizenship Collaborative Curriculum Page 9 of 11

10 Of the 345 students attending the school, 125 either lost their homes or their homes were damaged. Five students lost one parent; three students lost both parents; and one student, who left the school to find his mother, died. Because the gymnasium couldn t be heated and, even with tents, there was little privacy; Saito opened 19 classrooms for the evacuees. Each classroom held 40 people, and leaders from each classroom were appointed. They met several times a day to discuss who would be in charge of cleaning the school, who would clean the bathrooms and fetch water to flush the toilets and who would distribute food. EVALUATE: In your opinion, how well was the disaster handled by school officials and students? Two months later, temporary shelters occupied half of the school parking lot, and the rest of the space was filled with vehicles. In a country that has frequent disaster drills, Saito and others came away from the events on March 11 with some lessons learned. The disaster and communication plans in the community must be improved, he said. Rules must be established that students won t be handed over to relatives until the all-clear signal is given. Evacuation routes before and after an earthquake must be determined and maintained, he added. Secondary routes also should be established, and drills for those routes should be conducted regularly. QUESTION: What questions do you have based on the text? Source: Former Principal Gives Presentation. The Daily Astorian. 10 May September 2012 < Michigan Citizenship Collaborative Curriculum Page 10 of 11

11 PowerPoint Notes Page 4 1. Do you think the earthquake and resulting tsunami in Japan was a global problem? Why or why not? 2. For what natural disasters do you think Iceland may be at risk? 3. Do you think the Iceland natural disaster was a global problem? Why or why not? 4. Have you changed your opinion about the Iceland natural disaster? Why or why not? Michigan Citizenship Collaborative Curriculum Page 11 of 11