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Natural Disasters |
Take a look at nature's violent side with these sites about geologic and weather
events that can spell disaster for humans. (ECB also provides excellent video
resources on natural disasteres for Wisconsin teachers.) |
The Federal Emergency Management Agency's FEMA Hazards page discusses many natural disasters, including earthquakes, fires, floods, hurricanes, landslides, thunderstorms, tornadoes, tsunamis, volcanoes, wildfires, and winter storms. The FEMA Photo Library houses more than 9,000 images of natural disasters and terrorist events and can be searched by keyword, location, disaster category or date range. |
The Disaster Area, from the FEMA for Kids Web site, describes floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, thunderstorms, volcanoes, earthquakes, wildfires, and winter storms. Designed for elementary students, it includes historical facts and games. |
The BBC provides Animated Guides to Natural Disasters including hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes volcanoes and tsunamis. |
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) lists and gives facts about Billion Dollar Weather Disasters in the U.S. from 1980-2004. |
Created by elementary students in Hawaii, Beauty and the Beast looks at volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis. |
The National Park Service's Geologic Hazards provides information on landslides, avalanches, tsunamis, and other geohazards. |
Natural Disasters Worldwide is a site for younger students from the Miami Museum of Science. It includes a brief description of each disaster and personal stories, mostly from Florida hurricane victims. |
Savage Earth, from PBS, examines earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis, including a simple animation of each. |
The University of Illinois Extension supplies Disaster Resources for those affected by events such as floods, tornadoes, and thunderstorms. |
Disasters, from students at Boise State University, briefly describes several natural disasters, including the Peshtigo Fire of 1871 and the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. |
Administered by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Relief Web gives information on disasters and emergencies around the world. |
The USGS GEODE site allows users to create maps showing earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes and landslides. The interactive site displays information from dynamic databases and includes multiple types of information, such as satellite images, geologic maps, graphics, live camera feed, three-dimensional images, and spreadsheet data. |
NASA's Visible Earth site is a collection of images and animations of the earth. Use the search function to find images showing the results of floods, earthquakes, fires and other disasters, or browse the Natural Hazards collection. |
About Tsunamis, from the National Weather Service, includes a simple page on tsunami characteristics, a tsunami warning book for kids, and facts about the physics of tsunamis. |
The International Tsunami Warning Center answers frequently asked questions and provides links to regional tsunami warning centers. |
The Why Files? has scientific background on tsunamis for middle school students and a report on the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Tsunamis: Warming to a Warning System. |
Killer Wave, from National Geographic Kids, tells elementary students about tsunamis and how they form. |
The United States Geological Survey's (USGS) Tsunamis and Earthquakes Research uses animations and virtual reality models to explain how earthquakes generate tsunamis. The site also summarizes tsunami research. |
Digital Globe features tsunami photos from the December 2004 Indian Ocean disaster. |
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) presents an animated explanation of the 2004 Asian Tsunami disaster. |
The New York Times has a special multimedia feature about Asia's Deadly Waves. |
Faultline, from the San Francisco Exploratorium, explores the how and why of earthquakes and has articles, photos, and video of the "big ones" of 1906 and 1989. |
The USGS's Earthquake Hazards Program includes interactive maps and news about recent earthquakes, as well as historical facts, information for teachers, and a kids page at earthquake.usgs.gov/kids. |
The Why Files? features information on the severe 1999 earthquake in Turkey, as well as scientific background on what causes quakes, in Earthquakes: Turkey's Tragedy. |
PBS Online Newshour's Predicting Earthquakes discusses why quakes occur and quake-proof buildings, and has an interactive tectonic plates map illustrating the world's seismically active regions. |
Earthquakes, from the Tech Museum of Innovation, gives a multimedia overview of earthquakes. |
Plate Tectonics: The Cause of Earthquakes, from the University of Nevada, provides images and technical information. |
Earthquake! is an event-based science module for middle school students that uses the 1989 World Series earthquake to establish the context for learning about earthquakes and their effects on people and buildings. Students assume five different roles on a team responsible for designing a new city for a region of the world where earthquakes are common. |
Volcanic Violence, from The Why Files?, features the story of Mount St. Helens with discussions of how volcanoes work and the science of predicting eruptions. |
Nova's Volcano's Deadly Warning has animations explaining the different kind of earthquakes produced by volcanoes, and a section on the anatomy of a volcano. |
Designed for students and teachers, Volcano World offers information from volcano experts across the country, photos, video clips, up-to-date news on eruptions, lesson plans, and activities for kids. |
Volcanoes Online was created by students. It has an illustrated guide to plate tectonics and volcanoes, games, comics, and lesson plans. |
Volcanoes, from the USGS Learning Web, gives basic information about volcanoes for students, lesson plans for grades 4-8, and links to related USGS and government Web sites. |
Volcano! is an event-based science module for middle school students that uses the 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippine Islands to explore concepts related to volcanoes. Students assume the roles of producers of a television show about the risks to people living at the foot of Mt. Rainier, in Washington. Students will acquire then use their knowledge of plate tectonics, lava flows, debris flows, and the Ring of Fire to assemble the seven segments that make up the show. |
This site features information for students from the National Park Service Fire Management Program. |
Woods on Fire, from The Why Files?, examines the role of fire in natural systems and science's role in understanding wildfires. |
The Wisconsin Electronic Reader provides The Great Peshtigo Fire: An Eyewitness Account describing the biggest fire in American history in 1871. |
The Forest Service National Avalanche Center examines avalanches and teaches avalanche safety for skiers, snowboarders, and others. Don't miss the interactive back country tour! |
The companion Web site to Nova's Avalanche! program includes lots of pictures and video clips. |
NOAA's Drought Information Center has lots of good features, such as the U.S. Drought Monitor with animated maps, drought predictions, a drought calculator, and more. |
The National Drought Mitigation Center defines drought and explains the "dustbowl" conditions that devastated the U.S. southern plains and other areas during the 1930s. |
Surviving the Dustbowl, from PBS's American Experience series, provides a timeline and maps relating to the dustbowl era. |
National Geographic XPeditions has a lesson plan for Living Through a Drought. Students practice map-reading skills as they learn where drought can occur, how to recognize it, and how drought affects people. |
Nova's Flood! site includes information on flooding of the Yellow, Nile, and Mississippi rivers. |
Furious Floods, from The Why Files?, examines the natural and human factors that cause flooding. |
Flood! is an event-based science lesson for middle school students. It uses the midwest floods of 1993 to establish the context for exploring concepts related to streams and their eroding force. Students use their knowledge of erosion and deposition, the features of streams and rivers of different ages, and map-reading skills to design a new national park. |
NOAA's Online Tornado FAQ answers questions and embeds links to photos and detailed explanations in the answers. Check the "Tornado FAQ Page List" for lots of topics such as the Beaufort Wind Scale, 25 Deadliest U.S. Tornadoes, Tornado Preparedness Tips for School Administrators, and more. |
Twister: The Tornado Story, from The Why Files?, includes an interactive twister and instructions for creating a tornado in a bottle. |
Tornadoes, from NOAA, provides news, history, photographs, warnings, and other information. |
National Geographic's Chasing Tornadoes features a narrated multimedia show, an article, a photo gallery, and video clips from a storm-chasing team. |
Providing animations of hurricane formation and damage, Hurricanes: A Fierce Force of Nature from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Observatorium is a guide to hurricane monitoring, preparedness, and more. |
Hurricanes: Storm Science, from the Miami Museum of Science, offers information about hurricanes and classroom projects for elementary students. |
NOAA's Historical Hurricane Tracks is a complex interactive tool appropriate for older students and researchers. It generates maps showing color-coded paths of hurricanes recorded since 1950, with lots of information about each storm. |
Hurricane! is an event-based science module for middle school students. Using the example of Hurricane Andrew, |
Instructional Video Series for Wisconsin Teachers |
Come a Tide, Hill of Fire, and Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain from Reading Rainbow (grades 1-4) |
Volcanoes: Too Hot to Handle from 3-2-1 Classroom Contact (grades 3-6) |
The Pacific Region from North American Geoquest (grades 4-6) |
Why are Hurricanes Seasonal? from Inquring Minds (grades )4-8 |
Fire, Flood and the Future of the Forests from Passport to the Rainforest (grades 5-9) |
Storm Patrol from Real Science (grades 5-9) |
Introduction to North American Biomes from North American Biomes (grades 6-8) |
What Causes Earthquakes?, What are Volcanoes? , and Atmospheric Phenomena from Earth, the Environment and Beyond (grades 7-12) |
Passport to Weather and Climate includes programs on hurricanes, tornadoes and storms (grades 7-12) |
The Text-only menu provides accessible and printer-friendly access to the Surf Report Archives. |
Please contact us if you have questions or suggestions for the Surf Report! |
Created 10/2005
Last updated 09/04/2008
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