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Hot Topic: Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina devastated the gulf coast of Louisiana, Mississippi, and
Alabama, flooding the city of New Orleans on 29 August 2005. This hot topic
provides resources on hurricanes and other natural disasters, which will give
your students a greater understanding of what happened in the southern United
States.
The hurricane
The damage caused by the hurricane, its aftermath, and the flooding of New
Orleans has been described as the worst set of catastrophes in the history of
the United States.
When Hurricane Katrina hit land near New Orleans on 29 August 2005, the city
was under a mandatory evacuation order, but many residents remained in the city.
The vast majority of those who stayed were most likely unable to leave due to
being unable to afford vehicles or bus tickets, or being too elderly or infirm
to travel. The affected area covers 233,000 km² of the United States, which
is almost as large as the United Kingdom.
After a slow start, disaster relief plans are underway. As of September 1,
more than 20,000 people are still missing. The hurricane left an estimated five
million people without power, and it may be up to two months before all homes
and business are reconnected.
Flood waters broke through the levee system (the stopbanks built to keep flood
waters away from the low-lying parts of the city) in three places on the Lake
Pontchartrain side of New Orleans, early in the morning of August 30. This caused
heavy flooding through the entire city, resulting in further destruction and
forcing the evacuation of over a million people. The city was now uninhabitable,
since 80 percent of its area was below sea level, and the water had nowhere
to go.
Katrina may be the deadliest hurricane in the United States since the Galveston
Hurricane of 1900, which killed around 8000 people.
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Understanding the weather
These websites will help your students understand what causes hurricanes, and
how they can be predicted and measured.
Animated guide: Hurricanes
This simple animation is easy to understand.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4588149.stm
Dan's Wild, Wild Weather Page
This site created for children by American meteorologist Dan Satterfield, provides
information ranging from weather forecasting to specific weather phenomena and
global warming. The site includes maps, sound clips, games and puzzles, quizzes,
a tour of Dan's forecasting office and many selected resource links. Suitable
for primary and lower secondary levels.
http://www.wildwildweather.com/
Forces of Nature
This page from the National Geographic website explores the causes
and characteristics of the main forces of nature, volcanoes, earthquakes, hurricanes,
and tornadoes. It provides film footage, and interactive sites to create one
of the four natural forces.
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/forcesofnature/
For Kids Only: Earth Science Enterprise
This NASA Earth Science site explores air, water, land, and natural hazards.
Each section looks at how NASA studies these topics, and includes for example,
air pressure, plate tectonics, and El Nino. It also contains interactive earth
science games and teacher guides.
http://kids.earth.nasa.gov
It's a Breeze: How Air Pressure Affects You
This website explains the role air pressure plays in our daily lives.
It concentrates on how air pressure affects the weather and how it is used as
a forecasting tool. You can 'control' the weather using a 'virtual barometer',
and there are instructions for making your own barometer. Includes information
about tornadoes and hurricanes.
http://kids.earth.nasa.gov/archive/air_pressure/index.html
Weather
This is the education section of the United Kingdom's Meteorological (Met) Office.
Designed for primary and secondary students, this website looking at the science
behind the weather, forecasting instruments and methods, and the impact meteorology
has on society. You can also access other Met office services such as UK and
world weather updates, and weather news.
http://www.met-office.gov.uk/education/curriculum/leaflets/weather.html
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After the hurricane
Now that the hurricane has passed, the real work begins, with caring for the
homeless refugees and rebuilding what has been destroyed. These websites highlight
some of the many organisations who are involved in rebuilding lives after disaster
all around the world.
United Nations ReliefWeb
United Nations ReliefWeb is a global network for humanitarian information
on complex emergencies and natural disasters. This link is on natural disasters.
It includes disaster response information on current natural disasters and archival
material dating back to 1981. It contains a map section and links to related
resources.
http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/vLND
Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)
This is the United States website of Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres
(MSF), an independent international medical relief organisation that aids victims
of armed conflict, epidemics, natural and man-made disasters, and others who
lack healthcare due to geographic remoteness or ethnic marginalisation.
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/
Long Way Home
This level 4 unit, intended for years 7–8, looks at refugees today and
in the past. It investigates how people organise themselves in response to challenge
and crisis and focuses on the causes of those events and the ways they affect
people's lives.
http://www.tki.org.nz/r/socialscience/curriculum/SSOL/long_way/index_e.php
Picking up the Pieces
This level 4 social studies unit, intended for years 7–8, has students
explore how people organise themselves in response to challenge and crisis,
and has them make decisions about how an aid organisation could bring relief
aid after a disaster. This unit is based on the work of World Vision in Gujarat.
http://www.tki.org.nz/r/socialscience/curriculum/SSOL/pieces/index_e.php
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Fundraising
A natural response to seeing footage of devastation from disasters is to want
to help. One way to do this is to donate money to help survivors. These resources
may be of some assistance for a class fundraising project.
Advertising a School Event
This ICT starter idea written by teachers, for teachers, describes how students
could design a hard copy or digital poster that advertises a class or school event.
This could be a celebration of learning, sports event, or PTA fundraiser. This
idea includes the use of drawing software and PDF files.
http://www.tki.org.nz/r/ict/ideas/ad_school_event2_e.php
Classroom practice in technology – Oreti Plains School
This technology case study in the food production, information and communication
technology areas is from Oreti Plains School. It involves years 0–4 students
preparing and selling food and years 3–8 students organising a Play Day
to raise funds for UNICEF. This resource includes planning and teaching development
of the unit and comments from staff.
http://www.tki.org.nz/r/technology/curriculum/rsnz/oreti_e.php
Access Denied
In this level 5 unit, intended for years 9–10, students investigate aid
agencies such as World Vision, Red Cross, UNICEF, Salvation Army, and Save the
Children Fund,that are working to help people gain both access to resources
and basic human rights. http://www.tki.org.nz/r/socialscience/curriculum/SSOL/access/index_e.php
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Other natural disasters
Unfortunately, Hurricane Katrina is not the first natural disaster to ever
cause widespread destruction, and it won’t be the last. These resources
will help you put Katrina in a wider historical context.
Fire Escape
In this lesson, from The New York Times, students learn about the effects
of the volcanic eruption of Nyiragongo in Congo as a springboard to exploring
past examples of volcanic eruptions and their respective relief efforts. They
can then synthesise their understanding of volcano relief efforts by addressing
a mock assembly of the United Nations.
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20020122tuesday.html
Calamities and Catastrophes
In this level 3–5 integrated English/social studies unit intended for
years 7–8, students will read about and research New Zealand and international
disasters.
http://english.unitecnology.ac.nz/resources/units/disasters/home.html
MW5675
This Assessment Resource Bank material relates to level 3 of the science curriculum
material world strand, objective 2. Students read information on the guidelines
to follow in a violent earthquake. Students answer four questions using this
information.
http://arb.nzcer.org.nz/resources/science/material/5000/mw5675.htm
New Zealand Disasters – TKI Hot Topic
This TKI Hot Topic from June 2002 looks at some of the worst disasters in the
history of New Zealand. Included are the sinking of the ferry Wahine, the Tangiwai
disaster, and the Ballantynes fire.
http://www.tki.org.nz/r/hot_topics/disasters_e.php
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How would you cope in a disaster?
What would happen to you and your students if you were caught up in a disaster?
These websites can help you prepare for the worst – just in case.
"How Did I Survive?" WebQuest – ICT Learning Experience
This ICT Learning Experience describes a webquest based on war. Students
discovered and selected relevant information from the Internet, and used this
to complete a war journal from the point of view of a fictional person. A sample
webquest, website evaluation form, student sample of work, and student assessment
sheet are provided. Developed by Glen Eden Intermediate Cluster as part of the
ICT Professional Development Clusters Project. http://www.tki.org.nz/r/ict/ictpd/survive_webquest_e.php
Be Prepared
From New Zealand's Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management
this website gives advice on how to be prepared for disasters that may happen.
It includes lists of required items for a first aid kit, a getaway kit, and
an emergency survival kit as well as a PDF version of a household emergency
plan. It links to a short history of civil defence in New Zealand.
http://www.mcdem.govt.nz/memwebsite.nsf/wpg_URL/All-New-Zealanders-Be-Prepared-Index?OpenDocument
Earthquake Commission
This website provides information on the role of New Zealand’s
Earthquake Commission and access to commissioned research papers.
http://www.eqc.govt.nz
Earthquakes and Us
Topics covered in this website about earthquakes include the earth's
structure, plate tectonics, geographic features and the impact earthquakes can
have on humans. There are also interactive games and photographs. This website
has been created by students and, as such, is not necessarily an authoritative
source of information on the topic.
http://library.thinkquest.org/17701/high/effects/fxquake.html
Environmental Education Directory of New Zealand
This directory lists resources relating to the New Zealand environment and covers
New Zealand produced material and places to visit. All materials have been designed
to meet at least one of the objectives of the 1998 National Strategy for Environmental
Education – awareness, participation, attitudes and values, knowledge
and understanding, and skills. There is a facility for adding new resources
to the directory, or making corrections to existing entries.
http://www.eednz.org.nz/
Civil Defence
In this level 2–3 unit intended for year 5–6, students explore the
Civil Defence organisation in New Zealand. It provides opportunity to identify
civil disasters, write instructions, gather information from a variety of visual
texts (charts, pamphlets, posters, video), and present work in a brochure or
pamphlet.
http://english.unitecnology.ac.nz/resources/units/civil_defence/home.html
Flood – Teachers' Notes
This page provides School Journal teachers' notes about a real life
account of the Paekakariki flood emergency based on the experiences of Ama and
her mother, who have to evacuate their home at the height of the flooding, published
in School Journal, Part 2, Number 2, 2004. It includes an overview, features
to consider, readability, supports and challenges, responding to the text, suggested
activities, cross-curricular links, and related websites.
http://www.tki.org.nz/r/literacy_numeracy/professional/ teachers_notes/school_journal/tchr_notes/SJ_Par20204/flood_e.php?part=2
PE7548
This Assessment Resource Bank material relates to level 4 of the New
Zealand science curriculum planet earth and beyond strand, objective 1. Students
use the guidelines from the regional council to answer three questions about
what to do when a bad storm threatens.
http://arb.nzcer.org.nz/resources/science/planet/7000/pe7548.htm
Please note: These links were valid when this page was posted. However the Web is very volatile, and TKI has no control over outside websites. Please let us know if you find anything inappropriate, if you find a broken link, or if you have an update for a link by emailing links@tki.org.nz. Te Kete Ipurangi recommends that teachers view all websites we link to before using them with students.
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