Tsunami in Asia
TKI Hot Topic for January 2005
A tsunami struck several countries in Asia on 26 December 2004. The devastation
and loss of life caused by the tsunami has made it the worst natural disaster
of recent times. This TKI Hot Topic lists a number of lesson ideas and websites
that you can use to address the tsunami with your students.
What New Zealand is doing to help
The New Zealand Government has pledged $68 million dollars towards the ongoing
relief and reconstruction effort. This is the largest amount ever given by New
Zealand towards emergency foreign aid. There are also over 100 New Zealand defence
force personnel who are actively contributing to the relief effort in the stricken
countries.
The New Zealand public has also given million of dollars to international aid
agencies such as the Red Cross, and some skilled New Zealanders have travelled
to Asia to lend their knowledge towards the rebuilding of regions such as Aceh,
Indonesia. For example, two engineers are in Banda Aceh with Oxfam, establishing
fresh water supplies and sanitation facilities for around 60,000 people living
in makeshift camps.
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Resources on TKI
PLEASE NOTE: Sites listed below marked "Graphic
images" feature photographs and video that may be upsetting for
some students. TKI recommends that these sites are used with senior secondary
students only. The photos need to be viewed with an accompanying support programme
and under adult supervision.
Lesson plans
It Comes in Waves
In this lesson from The New York Times students learn about the behaviour and
different origins of tsunami waves, and they then research and chart the path
of certain tsunamis from recent history.
www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20020423tuesday.html
Calm after the Storm
In this lesson students will create posters providing information about Sri
Lanka's history and society both before and after the tsunami. They then write
response papers considering the future of this small country devastated by the
natural disaster.
www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20050105wednesday.html
Help Is on the Way
In this lesson students explore disaster aid and ways in which it is provided.
They then work in small groups to explore relief efforts aimed at the South
Asian countries affected by the recent undersea earthquake and tsunamis, as
well as individually investigate how they and their local communities can help.
www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20041229wednesday.html
Shaken up
In this lesson students discuss the type of information that they expect to
read in news coverage of earthquakes. They then learn about the devastating
aftermath of an earthquake in South and Southeast Asia and research and write
their own articles describing the event, covering various angles.
www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20041228tuesday.html
Save the Children: tsunami education resources
Suitable for primary and secondary school students, lesson plans include activities
such as brainstorming what things people need each day for survival and for
full development e.g. education and play, and how to decide what would be a
priority to provide if you were working for Save the Children. The site also
has ideas on how a school fundraising event, and shows how schooling has already
started in some of the afflicted countries.
www.savethechildren.org.uk/scuk/jsp/resources/details.jsp?id=2402&group=resources§ion=education&subsection=details&pagelang=en
Oxfam's Cool Planet: Tsunami in Asia
This website brings together educational materials from Cool Planet, and information
from the main Oxfam website and external sites, to enable teaching around the
2004/2005 tsunami crisis in Asia. It features a number of different lesson ideas,
including creating a checklist of needs for the short, medium and long term,
and a lesson encouraging students to look critically at news reports of the
tsunami.
www.oxfam.org.uk/coolplanet/teachers/tsunami/index.htm
Investigating Disasters Using Bloom's Taxonomy
This ICT Learning Experience involves students investigating disasters following
an inquiry process based on Bloom's Taxonomy. Developed by South Canterbury
Cluster as part of the ICT Professional Development Clusters Project, it shows
how students used a range of information and communication technologies for
the inquiry and published their findings on web pages they created using FrontPage.
www.tki.org.nz/r/ict/ictpd/investigating_disasters_e.php
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
Geography and science of tsunamis
Asia's Deadly Waves
*Graphic images
From the New York Times, this feature has an hour-by-hour timeline of the tsunami
that shows when each country was struck as well as how news of the disaster
spread. There is also a diagram of the movement of the India and Burma plates
at the epicentre of the earthquake that caused the tsunami.
www.nytimes.com/packages/khtml/2004/12/31/international/20041231_TIMELINE_FEATURE.html
How Tsunamis Work
*Graphic images (in 2004 Tsunami Footage videos only)
This site explores what causes tsunamis, the physics that drives them and the
effects of a tsunami strike. It includes information on the Asian tsunami and
examines scientists' worldwide efforts to monitor and predict tsunamis. There
is also video footage of the tsunami hitting different locations, taken by survivors
of the disaster.
www.howstuffworks.com/tsunami.htm
BBC: Asia Earthquake Disaster
Visit this BBC site for a collation of news stories on the tsunami, as well
as an animated simulation of what caused the tsunami. There is advice on what
to do if the news upsets you, earthquake facts and an online chat with a charity
worker. A selection of photos detailing the devastation caused by the wave and
the start of the relief effort are available.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/specials/2004/asia_earthquake_disaster/default.stm
Savage Earth Online
This PBS website is designed to explain the science behind volcanoes, earthquakes,
and tsunamis. The website features an animated simulation of a tsunami, and
Sidebar 1 looks at warning systems in place around the world.
www.pbs.org/wnet/savageearth/tsunami/index.html
Emergency preparedness and relief
Relief Web
Find out which emergency aid organisations are working in the different countries
affected by the tsunami. Read updates of the impact of the tsunami on sectors
such as agriculture, sanitation, education and mine action.
www.reliefweb.int/rw/dbc.nsf/doc115?OpenForm&rc=3
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.
www.mcdem.govt.nz/memwebsite.nsf/wpg_URL/All-New-Zealanders-Be-Prepared-Index?OpenDocument
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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