Summer Science Camp: Natural Disasters! Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Landslides!

This engaging Summer Science Camp will take students on a journey through the forces that cause rapid changes to the Earth's surface. Through a combination of videos, readings, web quests, and hands-on activities, learners will discover the causes of natural phenomena such as earthquakes and volcanoes and examine their impacts on human activity and the environment. Participants will engage in STEM challenges throughout the unit, exploring the science behind these events and learning about the scientists who study them. Additionally, they will investigate what factors make specific areas more vulnerable to these natural disasters.
Day 1: What is an Earthquake? Learn about the layers of Earth and how the movement of tectonic plates causes earthquakes. Information will be presented through a Nearpod activity with teacher video, interactive slides, and opportunities for students to express their learning. Check for Understanding  will be a Google slide activity.
Day 2: How do Earthquakes Impact Communities? STEM Challenge - Build a structure that can withstand the forces of an earthquake. After exploring community impact of recent earthquakes around the world, students will engage in a STEM design challenge in which they will build a structure to withstand an earthquake and upload a video of their test to the class page.
Day 3: All About Volcanoes - Learn about the Ring of Fire and where volcanoes occur on Earth. How are communities affected by volcanoes and why do people live in places where volcanoes occur? Students will explore volcanoes through an interactive Nearpod presentation and real time video of currently erupting volcanoes around the world. They will complete a world map of the "ring of fire" and locate the active volcanoes to determine if recent earthquakes and active volcanoes are linked. They will play an interactive game on PBS Learning Media to clarify their understandings.
Day 4: What are the Affects of Volcanoes to the Environment? STEM Activity - Students will research the effects of volcanoes on the surrounding environment using pre-screened websites and articles.. They will learn about underwater volcanoes through an interactive Nearpod presentation and view a teacher demo to understand what an underwater volcano is and what it can do.  They will be given instructions to complete this investigation on their own, with parent supervision.
Day 5: Landslide!: What causes landslides and which areas are most vulnerable to them? How can community developers help prevent landslides in flood prone areas?  Interactive Nearpod presentation will provide the content for this week. Students will then participate in a STEM Challenge - Create a landslide model and investigate how slope, friction, and type of material affect the impact of the landslide. 
Day 6: Science Careers: Who are the people that study each of these events? What field of science do they specialize in and what skills do they need? The culminating project for this class will be a study of the branches and specializations of scientists who work around these events. tAfter exploring these branches of science, students will choose one of the disciplines - seismology, volcanology, geology, or engineering, then create a presentation using the platform of their choice, to teach others about the discipline. Projects will be uploaded to the class page and a rubric will be provided.