Physical Science
GEOG 1700: Natural Disasters
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OnlineGEOG1700Syllabus.docx Size : 252.629 Kb Type : docx |
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Students will be introduced to natural disasters; the processes and energy sources that produce them, along with the spatial distribution and pattern of natural phenomena, while developing an understanding of the impact these phenomena have on human activity. Students will become aware of the dynamic nature of the earth, and the effect this has on the physical, economic, and personal/emotional aspects of their lives. They will discover the ramifications of these phenomena in their lives with an increased understanding of the necessity for preparation, if not prevention, should some type of natural disaster occur locally. Students will also develop an increased awareness of the financial and emotional toll that a headline really represents. All disasters are actually individual disasters!
Reflection:
To accomplish this assignment I familiarized myself first with Google Earth and then once again with information on Earthquakes such as on National Geographic's interactive website called Forces Of Nature. I also decided to reference my textbook while I was looking at Google Earth to locate the earthquakes on the different boundaries. The reason I did this is to help myself find specific places to look for the earthquakes. I did notice that because the real time Google Earth application only shows the earthquakes for a week that there were sometimes no earthquakes above a 4.0 magnitude to locate in places that they would be most popular. This shows that even though an earthquake is more suseptible in an area doesn't mean that it will happen extremely often enough to show up all of the time on Google Earth. At times I had troubles figuring out which boundary the earthquake really belonged to because I thought that it could be more than one different boundary. After consulting my textbook and my knowledge that I had already learned previously I finally figured out which boundary each earthquake lied within.
Before I took this course the only thing I really knew about earthquakes and Utah is that Utah is on a fault line (which I didn't really even know what that was either) and that we were suseptible to having a major earthquake sometime in the future. I knew that earthquakes are dangerous, and to be honest they kind of scared me. I know know so much more about earthquakes. I learned the processes of earthquakes, the damages that they can potentially cause, the importance of being educated and prepared, and what to do when an earthquake happens in your area. I learned that education is the best way to be prepared for a disaster such as an earthquake and the knowledge that I have learned has helped me help my family prepare for an earthquake in the future. Before this class I never had a survival kit or evacuation plan, let alone knowing the safest places to go during an earthquake (if possible). Now I have discussed and aquired these things with my family and feel so much better about our future potential of having an earthquake in Utah. I am sad to admit that I still am a little scared of earthquakes but not near as much as I was before taking this class. Knowing the processes of the earthquakes and knowing that I am much more prepared than before has helped me calm my fears.
