Hazards Exploration

Megan Plenge, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Author Profile
Initial Publication Date: April 10, 2026 | Revision: June 26, 2026
https://doi.org/10.67165/f48664tx | Cite this

Summary

In this assignment, students explore likely natural hazards in different areas of the United States. They will use interactive maps to make observations and develop inferences about where natural hazards occur, and then collect more data to see if it supports your inferences. Students will also explore one data subset in a more focused area (floods) and consider how non-scientists might interpret or be able to use this or the broader dataset. 

It includes a deeper dive into North Carolina hazards, but may be adapted to examine natural hazards and risks in your home state or territory (see information below!). This is used as an engagement activity to get students interested in hazards and thinking about what hazards may be related to each other.

Development of this resource was supported by the Center for Land Surface Hazards (CLaSH) - NSF Award ID #2224871.

Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of CLaSH and/or the NSF.

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Context

Audience

Intended for introductory undergraduate geoscience or geohazards courses or introduction to surface processes course.

Skills and concepts that students must have mastered

No prerequisite knowledge is required. Some students may have a vague understanding of what the hazards included on the interactive map are, while others may have had less exposure.

A class discussion in which students brainstorm to create a list of natural hazards before beginning could be beneficial, or you could have students complete a pre-class reading on hazards (e.g.,https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7123175/). 

To scaffold learning, discussion time should be provided for students once they have opened the hazard map and clicked on a location. During this discussion time, prompt students to look through the list of hazards listed for each location, and take turns describing these hazards with a partner. They should consult one of the web resources provided to aid them if needed (e.g. resource above), and should come up with questions to ask the instructor if they have additional questions.

This lesson could be a precursor to a deeper dive into hazards, a lesson differentiating risks and hazards, or a case study or role-playing assignment examining specific disasters. 

How the activity is situated in the course

This activity is intended to promote curiosity and boost engagement by giving students autonomy in picking areas to explore. It is used in the introductory portion of a course as a student engagement mechanism, to demonstrate relevance of studying natural hazards.

Goals

Content/concepts goals for this activity

Students differentiate between hazard exposure levels around the United States and describe natural hazards.

Higher order thinking skills goals for this activity

Students hypothesize about correlations between hazards and reflect on hazard communication with non-scientists.

Skills goals for this activity

Students practice using observations to provide evidence supporting or refuting hypotheses, and practice interpreting information on interactive maps. This activity can be modified to help students learn how to navigate between map layers.

Description and Teaching Materials

This activity includes a task prompt, relevant websites, and short-answer questions that are used as the basis for an in-class discussion. Additional discussion prompts are suggested in this write-up to scaffold learners as needed.

This activity is intended to be used in a lecture course as an in-class activity that students complete using their laptops. It could easily be assigned as homework, or given in as an online course assignment. If given as homework, I recommend reserving time in class to discuss with classmates and the instructor, as the discussion has been a valuable component of this lesson.

Hazard Exploration Student Handout.docx (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 668kB Jun26 26)

Teaching Notes and Tips

  • I typically start the class by asking which hazards have the highest probability of happening where we are. I get a list going at the front of the class, and then have them rank which hazards they think are the highest risk. Then, I tell them to find our location on the map to see if they are missing any hazards and see how the rankings compare to their estimates. This local focus, and the idea that they may not have a clear idea of all the hazards they are exposed to at their university, helps motivate student engagement. 
  • Different students may have different interpretations of what these hazards are and the impact these hazards have on communities. 
  • To reach alignment on definition of hazards as a class, you can point students to a class text, or use one of the resources provided here (e.g., Hazards, Disasters, and Risks: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7123175/). This can be incorporated as pre-class readings, and/or a resource for students to use during the activity.
  • To allow students to share perspectives and experiences with hazard impacts, a guided discussion either in groups or as a whole class (depending on class size) could help students share how hazards have impacted their communities, helping students who have not been directly impacted by hazards understand some of the consequences.
  • Group or whole-class share-outs could be helpful as students work through the questions. One technique I've used is to share some of the hazard correlations students have identified to see if other students have identified the same patterns. A conversation on theorized factors contributing to these hazards can lead to fruitful discussions about the variables that can impact hazard magnitude or frequency.
  • To adapt this for your local context, you may want to look for resources specific to your state. Often, towns and cities will have flood risk maps available, and local environmental agencies or geological surveys will have data available. 
    • Be sure to spend some time before class with any data portals you include in the exercise to make sure you are familiar with how each functions so you can better guide students.
  • Many national data sources are available, many of which can be used to isolate state-, regional-, or even city-level data. For example: 
  • FEMA's Resiliency Analysis and Planning Tool, an interactive map where you can add or remove pertinent natural hazard and risk factors, such as the location of social infrastructure such as hospitals.  This can also be used in conjunction with in-class discussions: https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/0a317e8998534c30a9b2d3861c814d42/

Assessment

Classroom discussion of student responses serves as a formative assessment. Please see examples in "teaching notes" for discussion ideas. Students complete a short-answer assignment as the summative assessment. Brief 3-point criteria are provided in the assignment to facilitate grading, which was done on a good faith completion basis.

References and Resources

Websites with datasets used (note: you may want to add additional websites to the activity for your state or territory, although several of these tools allow you to "zoom in" to local context, so if you are unable to find any local websites you could use national databases provided.)

Background information for students or instructors: