Lake County, California, has experienced a succession of natural hazards in the last 15 years, with several major wildfires, drought, and floods. In this pace-based unit, students in grades 6-10 interact with local poetry, stories, and datasets to gain a deeper understanding of the risks of hazards in this rural northern California community. Students also learn about the social and systemic factors that increase vulnerability to hazards, and get the opportunity to develop ideas on how their community can become more resilient to these hazards.
This curriculum was developed with the support of a team of scientists, local emergency managers, and law enforcement officers working in Lake County to reduce the vulnerability of disadvantaged communities to the impacts of wildfire-related cascading hazards. Learn more about the project and the findings on the project website.
The unit has four lessons and is expected to take about eight 50-minute class periods to teach.
A picture of a recently burned area by Highway 175 in Lake County, California. Photo credit: Bob Dass.
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Lessons:
Lesson 1 - ReVisioning Hazards
In the first lesson of the Lake County Cascading Hazards Unit, students read a poem written by a local fire survivor, and utilize a visualization practice to build personal resilience.
In the second lesson of the Lake County Cascading Hazards unit, students dig into local stories and datasets, and learn about the connections between natural hazards.
Lesson 3 - Social Vulnerability to Hazards
In the third lesson of the Lake County Cascading Hazards unit, students learn about social factors that might make one group more vulnerable to a hazard than another.
In the last lesson of the Lake County unit, students develop idea to increase resilience to hazards in their own community.
Teaching Materials
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