Printer-friendly versionIn 1989 a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck San Francisco. Sixty-three people died. This year, a 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti. A month after the disaster the Haitian government estimates that more than 200,000 people died. Why the huge difference? In this lesson students will answer that question as they identify and explore connections between poverty and natural disasters.
Additional Resources
- You can read about poverty and natural disasters in “Earth Science Meets Social Science,” an interview with a geologist who studies natural disasters in their social context.
- You can learn about a student’s experience with service learning in New Orleans by reading “Student Service Reflection: A Different Kind of Vacation.”
- Read about service learning related to the earthquake in Haiti in the article, "Disaster in Haiti Inspires Myriad Projects in Washington Area Schools".
Standards
Activities and embedded assessments address the following standards (McREL 4th edition)
Economics
Standard 1. Understands that scarcity of productive resources requires choices that generate opportunity costs
Language Arts
Standard 5. Uses the general skills and strategies of the reading process
Standard 7. Uses reading skills and strategies to understand and interpret a variety of informational texts
Standard 8. Uses listening and speaking strategies for different purposes
Life Skills
Standard 1. Understands and applies the basic principles of presenting an argument
Standard 6. Applies decision-making techniques
