Natural Disasters and Their Effects Educational Resources K12 Learning, World Cultures, Geography Lesson Plans, Activities, Experiments, Homeschool Help

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

Think about what you had for breakfast this morning.

Where did all those ingredients come from?

People rely on produce from many countries for their meals. It is wonderful to have a variety of foods from different areas, but when a catastrophe happens, the food supply in that area — and those who rely on it — is affected.

Although you get your food from the neighborhood store, it comes from elsewhere.

For example, maybe your bananas are from Costa Rica, your avocados are from Mexico, your oranges and grapes are from California, and your hamburger meat is from Kansas.

Examine the contents of your kitchen to see where the food comes from. The packaging or label often tells you what state or country it is from.

Print out the Printable World Map under Downloadable Resources in the right-hand sidebar, and circle the states and countries from where the food comes.

Imagine what would happen if California experienced a severe drought and most fruit crops did not grow.

How would that affect you?

Maybe your grocery store doesn’t carry them, or if it did, the fruits would cost much more money than usual. When the supply of an item is low, the price goes higher.

A drought is a type of natural disaster or catastrophe. Hurricanes, tornados, floods, and volcanic eruptions are also natural disasters.

Can you think of more?
What kinds of natural disasters are common in your area?
Have you lived through a natural disaster?
Have you heard on the news lately about a natural disaster happening somewhere in the world?

Continue to the Got It? section to explore one natural disaster and its effects.