Tennessee Science Grade 7

Unit 3: Earth and Space Science: Exploring Earth

Interview - disaster plan

Natural Disaster

Introduction:
Hurricane season descends on the Gulf Coast and Eastern seaboard beginning June 1st and lasts through the end of October. The worst storms of the season often occur in the early fall. In the fall of 2004, Florida was hit by two category four storms (131-155mph winds) and one category three storm (111-130mph winds). Due to the unpredictable nature of a storm, it is important to have a plan and materials ready to weather a storm safely and deal with the storm's aftermath.

Task:
As a class:

• Name various careers that focus on preparing a city for a natural disaster.
• Determine how these professionals prepare the citizens of a community for a natural disaster.
• How diverse are the career paths?
• Use the links below to find more information about the skills of professional in different career paths. If possible, ask a guest speaker to address the class about the preparing for a hurricane and how you can safely avoid any danger.

Time:
It will take one class period to brainstorm ideas and one class period to design and construct a presentation poster.

Possible Resources:

National Hurricane Center - NOAA
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

FEMA
http://www.fema.gov/

American Red Cross
http://www.redcross.org/

Emergency Preparedness and Response - CDC
http://www.bt.cdc.gov/

Presentation Hints:

• Plan the layout of your presentation poster before you begin working on it.
• Colorfully label the different ideas represented in your presentation
• Include your presentation title and your name on the poster.
• Use pictures you find in magazines and on the internet to illustrate the points in your poster presentation.