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Mother Nature Enraged: Double Standards

Production Phase 3

Examining news reports and statistics surrounding the way two natural disasters affected the cities and people of two very different regions can shed a revealing light on how natural disasters affect the different populations.  Are there double standards involved in the way natural disasters are reported, prepared for, dealt with during and after the event?  At this stage in the production process, students gather and organize information and make their own conclusions.

2 class periods


News and Natural Hazards
15 minutes

Teacher
The teacher distributes the Seismic Monitor image, the texts about the San Francisco and Bam earthquakes and the blank observation grid.

Students
The students observe image 1 (Seismic Monitor) and read the two texts about the San Francisco (text 1) and Bam (text 2) earthquakes on their own. They describe the geographical situations of the two cities as well as the physical and human consequences of the two earthquakes. They also note the main differences between the two situations (such as the number of victims in each case).


20 minutes

Teacher
The teacher explains to the students that they must complete the observation grid based on their readings.

Students
The students complete the observation grid on their own or in teams. The students can use the newspaper articles as models for writing their own articles or reports.


 



Bam and San Francisco
15 minutes

Teacher
The teacher distributes the images of Bam and San Francisco and the texts about the types of buildings and economic development in each city. The teacher asks the students to underline the most important elements in these texts.

Students
Using the two images of Bam and San Francisco as well as the texts about the types of buildings and economic development in each city, the students note their observations and underline the most important elements in the texts.

20 minutes


Teacher
The teacher distributes the blank tables on types of buildings and asks the students to complete them according to their observations.

Students
The students complete the tables on their own or in teams.

30 minutes



Teacher
The teacher asks the students to write their own conclusions with respect to this activity. The teacher then leads a discussion on possible solutions and the prevention of earthquakes in developing countries.

Students
The students write up their conclusions by answering the question at the end of this activity. The students express their opinions, propose possible solutions and discuss the international solidarity movement.


About the earthquake in Bam in Iran:
“The spirit of humanity goes beyond politics, religion, regionalism and shows how we can unite the world,” declared Dr. Kamal Kharrazi, the Iranian Foreign Minister. “The Iranian people have witnessed first hand this sense of unity through the abundance of international assistance provided during the last two weeks.”

Photos from Canadian Red Cross relief centres

Source: Canadian Red Cross