Dear Colleagues:
September is National Emergency Preparedness Month. Each week in September focuses on a different type of natural disaster and its aftermath. This week, Week One, focuses on floods. There are many lesson plans you might consider using with your students. Here's one.
Run for Your Lives! The Johnstown Flood of 1889
This extended learning activity was developed by the National Park Service. It provides primary and secondary resources related to the most devastating flood in the nation’s history during the 19th century. The failure of the South Fork Dam above Johnstown, Pennsylvania, sent twenty million tons of water dropping 450 feet in 14 miles. Maps, photographs, and short readings intertwine science and social studies, focusing on how human activity, lack of forethought, and the force of nature often collide.
Keep an eye out for the lesson's warm-up Inquiry Question and photograph. Don't miss the Photo Analysis Worksheet that you may find helpful for this and other lessons. In addition, there are multiple discussion and writing opportunities for students to locate main ideas, supporting details, and provide analysis.
Have you seen Ready.gov's flood infographic?
Are you and your students ready with a Communication Plan?
Don’t wait. Communicate.
Cynthia Zafft
Health Literacy Moderator