In this task, students will play the role of a risk assessor for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Their job is to figure out if their local region is at risk of a devastating earthquake or volcano and to write a risk assessment document for their locality. In order to understand the risks, students need to understand plate tectonics and where their state sits in relation to plate boundaries, and how those plate boundaries affect earthquakes and volcanoes.
Students will then research another region of the world that they feel has a very different risk factor of volcanoes and/or earthquakes and write a risk assessment document for that region as well.
The task will be completed in three parts: (1) Research Earthquake and Volcano Hazards, (2) Draft Earthquake Risk Assessment, and (3) Draft Volcano Risk Assessment.
