Unit 1 (Natural Disasters): Activities 12-14

Activity 12: Pre-reading Activity

Match the names of the phenomena with the pictures. 


 

Activity 13: Reading Activity

Read the following extracts from various websites. Which natural disaster caused the greatest loss of lives?

Indian Ocean, 2004
An earthquake unleashed a devastating tsunami that travelled thousands of kilometres across the Indian Ocean, taking the lives of nearly 300,000 people in countries as far apart as Indonesia, the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Somalia. 

Southern Africa, 2004
Across southern Africa the worst drought in more than a decade is destroying crops, pushing up food prices and leaving millions in need of food aid.

Bangladesh
The deadliest tornado in history tears through Bangladesh. 1,300 people die, 50,000 left homeless.

Jamaica, 1988
Hurricane Gilbert produces winds as high as 160 mph, killing 318 people and devastating Jamaica.

America, 1980

At Mount St. Helens, a moderate earthquake caused roughly 1.7 cubic miles of rocks and mud to break free and slide down the side of the volcano. 58 people were killed in this landslide.
Chile, 1960
The largest ever earthquake is measured in Chile. At 9.5, it reaches the maximum value on the Richter scale. More than 2,000 are killed, 3,000 injured and 2 million made homeless.

China, 1887
China's Yellow River breaks its banks and causes flooding, leading to the deaths of 1 million people.

Indonesia, 1883
The Krakatoa volcano in Indonesia erupts, sending dust 17 miles up into the atmosphere. Thousands die.

Which disaster caused the greatest loss of lives?



Activity 14: Post-reading Activity
  1. open a new word document;
  2. in this document, create a table comparing the main information from each disaster;
  3. in the same document, create a pie chart comparing the number of dead in the tornado, hurricane, landslide and earthquake disasters;
  4. save this file in your portfolio (folder: unit1, file name: activity14);
  5. attach this file to assignment 2 in WebCT and submit the assignment.