June 27-July 3, 2013, Current Events Lesson Plan
Current Event:
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) recently reported that weather extremes, unprecedented in records kept since 1850, pummeled Earth during the decade of 2001-2010. The WMO attributed the weather extremes mainly to greenhouse gases generated by human action. Greenhouse gases trap heat in Earth’s atmosphere, much like the glass walls of a greenhouse. Many human activities release carbon dioxide and methane–two greenhouse gases–into the atmosphere. Most scientists think that the release of such gases by human activity has contributed to global warming, a potentially harmful increase in Earth’s average temperature. The 2001-2010 decade saw droughts, floods, and heat waves throughout the world. The decade was the warmest for both hemispheres and for both land and ocean surface temperatures. The year 2010 was the warmest and wettest ever recorded. The record high temperatures were accompanied by the rapid melting of Arctic sea ice, Antarctic ice sheets, and Greenland glacier ice. As a result, global mean sea levels rose during the decade.
Objective:
Natural disasters are such events as earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, tsunamis, and volcanoes that cause much suffering and loss. These events kill, injure, and displace tens of millions, and often hundreds of millions, of people every year. Natural disasters also often cause severe economic and property damage that sometimes takes years to recover from. The Behind the Headlines news stories and related World Book articles explore natural disasters and other geological and weather-related topics.
Words to know:
- Disaster
- Drought
- Flood
- Geology
- Glacier
- Greenhouse effect
- Hurricane
- Hurricane Katrina
- Tornado
- Tsunami
- Weather
- World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
Discussion Topics:
1. Ask your students to name some natural disasters that have occurred since 2000. [Students might say the Indian Ocean tsunami (2004), Hurricane Katrina (2005), Cyclone Nargis (2008), the Haiti earthquake (2010), the Japan earthquake and tsunami (2011), the Moore tornado (2013).]
2. Ask your students to debate, “Schools should be required to teach students how to prepare for various natural disasters.”
3. Ask your students to debate, “Meteorologists should be held liable if they don’t sufficiently warn the public of impending extreme weather.”
4. Ask your students to use the World Book’s Timelines feature to create a timeline of natural disasters since 1900. (Students may wish to use World Book’s Disaster, Earthquake, Flood, and Hurricane articles for help. World Book also has many articles on individual natural disasters.)