GTAQ Conference 2011: Hazards!

A topic that frightens yet excites every geography teacher (go on, admit it), natural hazards and disasters have been very much in the news over the past 12 months. Hazard studies are interesting and exciting topics that always engage students.

Take some time to review the following great online and free resources for hazard studies:

• USGS Earthquake Hazards Program, Google Earth .kml file downloads. Earthquakes that have occurred in the past week can be downloaded here along with other US-centric Google Earth .kml files.
• http://earthquakes.tafoni.net/ is made up of a simple Google Map background with recent earthquakes displayed according to magnitude and depth. A really nice, simple tool for classroom discussion or deeper analysis.
• Geoscience Australia’s Sentinel Bushfire mapping site is a great tool to view recent and historic bushfire data in Australia. You can change the backgrounds to view topographic maps, satellite images or even Bureau of Meteorology layers. Check our Resources page for a classroom lesson using this activity.
• The National Geographic MapMaker Interactive is a great, simple and free online GIS tool that carries a range of data as well as other map layers. You can view earthquakes, volcanoes, seas surface temperature in summer and winter (cyclones), global precipitation.
• Google Maps also offers plenty of opportunities for recording natural hazards. See our Resources page for a guide to using Google Maps in the Simple Spatial booklet.

Spend some time just playing with these resources and see if you can integrate them into your classroom practice, the time taken will be well worth it!