Students are introduced to our planet's structure and its dynamic system of natural forces through an examination of the natural hazards of earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, tsunamis, floods and tornados, as well as avalanches, fires, hurricanes and thunderstorms. They see how these natural events become disasters when they impact people, and how engineers help to make people safe from them. Students begin by learning about the structure of the Earth; they create clay models showing the Earth's layers, see a continental drift demo, calculate drift over time, and make fault models. They learn how earthquakes happen; they investigate the integrity of structural designs using model seismographs. Using toothpicks and mini-marshmallows, they create and test structures in a simulated earthquake on a tray of Jell-O. Students learn about the causes, composition and types of volcanoes, and watch and measure a class mock eruption demo, observing the phases that change a mountain's shape. Students learn that the different types of landslides are all are the result of gravity, friction and the materials involved. Using a small-scale model of a debris chute, they explore how landslides start in response to variables in material, slope and water content. Students learn about tsunamis, discovering what causes them and makes them so dangerous. Using a table-top-sized tsunami generator, they test how model structures of different material types fare in devastating waves. Students learn about the causes of floods, their benefits and potential for disaster. Using riverbed models made of clay in baking pans, students simulate the impact of different river volumes, floodplain terrain and levee designs in experimental trials. They learn about the basic characteristics, damage and occurrence of tornadoes, examining them closely by creating water vortices in soda bottles. They complete mock engineering analyses of tornado damage, analyze and graph US tornado damage data, and draw and present structure designs intended to withstand high winds.

Students are introduced to natural disasters, and learn the difference between natural hazards and natural disasters. They discover the many types of natural hazards avalanche, earthquake, flood, forest fire, hurricane, landslide, thunderstorm, tornado, tsunami and volcano as well as specific examples of natural disasters. Students also explore why understanding these natural events is important to engineers and everyone's survival on our planet.

Volcanic debris flows (lahars) flow long distances, bury and aggrade river valleys, and cause long-term stream disturbances and dramatic landscape changes. Students will evaluate the nature, scale, and history of past lahars from Mount Rainier in a river valley and interpret the past and potential future impact on humans of lahars.

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Students use the height and radius of Olympus Mons to estimate its volume. They then propose a method to estimate the volume of lava that has erupted over from the Hawaiian hotspot over time. I then show them a graph of the cumulative volcanic volume as a function of distance from Kilauea (from Clague and Dalrymple). They compare these volumes and also consider the possibility that some of the lava erupted from the Hawaiian hotspot has been subducted.

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This article features children's literature about erosion, glaciers, earthquakes, and volcanoes for use in the elementary classroom.

Join Scripps Institution's David Hilton as takes us on a journey to Costa Rica on the first stage of research to find out if volcanoes put out as much as the earth's mantle takes back during the processes of subduction and volcanism. (28 minutes)

Physical Geology is a comprehensive introductory text on the physical aspects of geology, including rocks and minerals, plate tectonics, earthquakes, volcanoes, glaciation, groundwater, streams, coasts, mass wasting, climate change, planetary geology and much more. It has a strong emphasis on examples from western Canada, especially British Columbia, and also includes a chapter devoted to the geological history of western Canada. The book is a collaboration of faculty from Earth Science departments at Universities and Colleges across British Columbia and elsewhere.

Physical Geology is a comprehensive introductory text on the physical aspects of geology, including rocks and minerals, plate tectonics, earthquakes, volcanoes, mass wasting, climate change, planetary geology and much more. It has a strong emphasis on examples from western Canada. It is adapted from "Physical Geology" written by Steven Earle for the BCcampus Open Textbook Program. To access links to download PDF files, click the Read Book button below.

This optional field trip is designed to augment the in-class learning experience in introductory physical geology by providing students the opportunity to see firsthand local geological features and understand their context in the long-term tectonic evolution of the western United States. The university is conveniently located in a portion of the American west where a plethora of geological features are readily accessible over a total field trip duration of 6 hours. Over a total of 6 field stops, students are presented with an opportunity to observe features relevant to topics learned in class involving rock types, volcanic features (lava flows and ash fall deposits), faults and folds, mass wasting features, catastrophic flood deposits (Bonneville and Missoula floods), and loess deposits.

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The Central American volcanic arc displays large arc-parallel variations in chemical composition that yield important clues concerning the complex origin of magmas in subduction zones. In this exercise, students use data compiled for the NSF MARGINS program to compare heights, volumes, and whole-rock compositions of 39 Quaternary volcanic centers along the Central American arc, together with crustal thicknesses, to assess the possible sources of the magmas and the petrologic processes that have modified them prior to eruption.

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The distribution of earthquakes and volcanoes around the world confirmed the theory of plate tectonics first proposed by Wegener. These phenomena also help categorize plate boundaries into three different types: convergent, divergent, and transform.

This video segment adapted from NOVA uses animation to show the relationship between the movement of a tectonic plate and whether volcanoes on the Hawaiian Islands are active or dormant.

Students observe an in-classroom visual representation of a volcanic eruption. The water-powered volcano demonstration is made in advance, using sand, hoses and a waterballoon, representing the main components of all volcanoes. During the activity, students observe, measure and sketch the volcano, seeing how its behavior provides engineers with indicators used to predict an eruption.

Travel to the Pacific Northwest, home to some of the most seismically active areas in the U.S. Learn from experts about tectonic activity and find out if they know when the "big one” will hit.

Students learn about various natural hazards and specific methods engineers use to prevent these hazards from becoming natural disasters. They study a hypothetical map of an area covered with natural hazards and decide where to place natural disaster prevention devices by applying their critical thinking skills and an understanding of the causes of natural disasters.

Did you know astronauts can see volcanoes erupting from space? Learn about this from NASA Astronaut Ricky Arnold and see a model volcano erupt.

This interactive activity produced for Teachers' Domain shows the relationship between tectonic boundaries and the locations of earthquake events and volcanoes around the world.

This is an exercise that is in development and has not yet been fully tested in the classroom. Please check back regularly for updates and changes.

This guided inquiry will investigate the three month phase of activity in the vicinity of Pu`u `O`o and the summit region (June 1, 2007 -- August 30, 2007).
Students will examine already prepared monitoring data derived from the VEPP website (GPS, tilt and seismic), and, with guidance, discover what other information is available to understand and speculate on the nature of the activity, including webcams, videos, still images, maps, and press releases.
Full length description:
Prior to doing this introductory laboratory exercise, students should be introduced to the basic instruments used in volcano monitoring. Before class, students will be provided with an assignment to reinforce their understanding about the techniques used in volcano monitoring.

During lab, students (in small groups) will be provided with the data files from a three month period of time in the vicinity of Pu`u `O`o and the summit region (June 1, 2007 -- August 30, 2007) (GPS, RSAM and Tilt) at the start of the exercise. The data files are provided under Instructor Materials below.
A worksheet will be provided to the students to guide them through the initial investigation of the graphs. Example questions include: What is the data showing in each of the graphs? Are there any specific events that are evident in your graph? As a group, can you determine if the events seen in one graph correlate to events seen in any of the other graphs? A discussion of what data the graphs are illustrating will be facilitated by the instructor.

Once students have examined and understand what the data is showing, they will propose hypotheses to explain the observed data trends and correlations. Through just-in-time teaching (JiTT), students will be provided with or guided to further information that may assist them in discovering the nature of the activity. For example, they can request to see maps, videos, webcams, and images of the area during the three-month period spanned by the exercise.
Materials for implementing this laboratory are provided for instructors and students (forthcoming).

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This is an exercise that is in development and will not be fully tested until Fall 2010. Please check back regularly for updates and changes.
Brief three-line description of the activity or assignment and its strengths:
Students first learn about several volcanic monitoring techniques. Given three hypotheses on the movement of magma in the plumbing between the summit and Pu'u 'Ō'ō on Kilauea, students make predictions about what they would expect to see for each hypothesis in the data. They then analyze the data and test each hypothesis.

Full length description:

In this activity, students learn, using a balloon experiment and sketches, how the monitoring techniques of ground tilt and ground motion (using GPS) illustrate magma chamber inflation and deflation. Students also are briefly introduced to the varying composition of basalt lava.
Three hypotheses about the movement of magma between the Kilauea summit and Pu'u 'Ō'ō are given to the students. For each hypothesis, students make predictions about what they would expect to see with each monitoring technique. After making predictions, students are given handouts with the data from each technique, they analyze the data to evaluate each hypothesis, and they make a conclusion about the movement of magma beneath Kilauea.

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