Responding to Patterns of Change

Allow students time to answer these questions. Once they have had time to complete their responses, you may want to hold a class discussion on some or all of them.

1. Think about a weather event that you have experienced. How did it affect you and your family?

Students’ responses will vary according to their personal experiences. The goal of this question is to have them think about a time when their lives were affected in some way by a natural event. Research has shown that students are more motivated to learn science when they understand how the concepts relate to their own lives. For some, the effect they have experienced may be a minor inconvenience such as not being able to go to a ballgame. Some may mention that school was called off for a day because of a snowstorm. Some may have experienced a severe storm such as a tornado or a lightning storm that had a significant impact on their lives.

Students may raise the idea that there can be a range of effects from a natural event depending on the size of the event or even its location. For example, an earthquake can cause tremendous damage and risk for humans if the ground movements are strong and it occurs near a large population center. In contrast, an earthquake could have little impact if the ground vibrations are mild or if it occurs far away from an area with many people. This idea will come up at other times in the chapter, but this is an opportunity to acknowledge students’ thinking. A follow-up question you might want to ask is, “Can people predict these events or the size of these events?”

As students complete the rest of this chapter, they will be learning more about natural events and the impact that these events can have on people’s lives.

2. In Step 5, you thought about which events are more likely to happen near you. What ideas do you have about why some events are more likely to happen in some areas than in others?

Students may answer based on personal experiences with a natural event or they may refer to what they have seen on television or on the Internet. Listen carefully to the reasons students give to explain why a natural event is more likely to happen in one place compared with another.

3. How do you think technology helps people learn about natural events?

It is likely that students will list television and the Internet as sources of information. In the last several years, several natural events and natural disasters around the world have received a great deal of media coverage (for example, the earthquake in Haiti and the tsunami in Japan). Students may have other ideas as well. Some may say that scientists use equipment to learn about natural events. For example, scientists can use seismographs to study Earth’s vibrations during an earthquake. Or they may mention scientists using satellites or radar to study storms.

4. Often during natural events, people are more helpful and cooperative than they are at other times. Why do you think this could be true?

Students may answer that people provide more help during disasters because more people need it or because the amount of destruction is so great. Others may point out that some disasters result in life-or-death situations, so people focus on saving lives.