Teaching with Hurricane Katrina

This collection was developed by Laurie Cantwell as a part of the Integrating Research in Education project.

Investigating Hurricane Katrina In Your Classroom

On August 29th, 2005, Hurricane Katrina, the third major hurricane of the 2005 season, struck the Gulf Coast of the United States. The Category 4 hurricane struck with extreme force, causing nearly $80 billion in damages and taking over 1,300 lives. This module is designed to provide scientific information and resources to help students understand the science behind the storm. Topics include the geology and geography of the region, the climate, the human impacts and developments in the region, natural resources, the aftermath of the storm, hurricane science, and history and effects on human health. This collection contains an assortment of digital resources and teaching ideas relevant to the many components of the Hurricane Katrina disaster. It is designed primarily for instructors and students in introductory undergraduate Earth science courses. However, the collection may also be of interest for K-12 educators and the general public.

Where do I start?

To read an overview of Hurricane Katrina and the science behind the disaster, read Understanding Katrina, a modified PowerPoint presentation written by Dr. William W. Locke at Montana State University. From this page, the original Powerpoint presentation may also be downloaded for use in your classroom.
Continue on and find many web resources pertaining to several Key Topics related to Hurricane Katrina. These are resources arranged in disciplinary topics to allow searching and browsing across the collection. Topics include physiography, Mississippi River and Delta, human impacts and development, natural resources, climate, hurricane science and history, aftermath of the storm and human health concerns.
Teachers and students may also be interested in investigating Compelling Research Questions. These resources are arranged to guide exploration of key questions about Hurricane Katrina.

These approaches to exploring Hurricane Katrina are designed to support inquiry- and discovery-based learning, as well as Earth system science, investigative case-based, field-based, and traditional disciplinary instructional approaches. For more information about these and other instructional strategies, please visit Starting Point. Additional supporting information for the Hurricane Katrina collection can also be found at Using Data in the Classroom, Geology and Human Health and Teaching with Visualizations.