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Listed under:  Health  >  Safety  >  Environmental hazards
Online

Understanding weeds: life cycle

Weeds compete with native plants in our natural environments, and can dominate both natural ecosystems and areas of agricultural production. This competition limits biodiversity, as well as the economic potential for farmers. This activity will look closely at three different weed forms and children will learn about their ...

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Understanding the National Earthquake Alerts Centre

This video introduces the National Earthquake Alerts Centre. The video explains that earthquakes are detected by a network of seismometers; each station sends seismic information for analysis and checking by seismologists on duty. The video describes the types of wave forms in earthquakes and the sequence of events in ...

Downloadable

Volcanic hazards: What would an Emergency Manager do?

This activity examines a hypothetical city and its vulnerability to volcanic hazard risk. It includes background information for teachers, PowerPoint presentation, student activity sheet and worked answers.

Video

Liquefaction In Action

This short video examines the process of liquefaction and its impact on buildings and other structures. The video encourages students to investigate some of the ways engineers lessen the impact of earthquakes on buildings and to make their own liquefaction demonstration and extend it into an inquiry activity.

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Earthquake monitoring

This video introduces earthquake monitoring using seismometers and seismographs. It also features the National Earthquake Alert Centre. Students are asked to try making earthquakes at home using the accelerometers in their smartphones.

Downloadable

Earthquakes - Teacher Notes and Student Activities

This 85 page booklet explores earthquakes. The booklet includes the causes and types of earthquakes, how earthquakes are recorded, magnitudes of earthquakes and case studies of significant Australian earthquakes. The booklet contains a glossary, links to online resources, activity ideas and experiments for students and ...

Downloadable

Volcanoes : Teacher notes and student activities

This 80 page booklet covers a range of topics concerning volcanoes. It includes information about causes of volcanic eruptions, volcano types, where volcanoes are found and why, Australia's hot spot volcanoes and the hazards and benefits of volcanoes. Activities cover the science of eruptions and their impact on people, ...

Downloadable

Tsunami - Teacher Notes and Student Activities

This 35 page booklet explores tsunamis, what generates tsunamis, where they occur, what happens when they reach land, how tsunamis impact Australians, and the role Geoscience Australia plays in providing the Australian Tsunami Warning System. The booklet contains a glossary, links to online resources, activity ideas and ...

Downloadable

Spaghetti Quakes

This activity explains commonly used magnitude scales, provides background information on earthquake intensity and includes an extension task to map the impact of an earthquake. The worksheet activity can be adapted for student needs.

Video

Catalyst: What is a megafire?

Join Catalyst reporter Anja Taylor as she visits the Jemez Mountains in New Mexico and discovers the impacts of recent megafires on the landscape there. What is a megafire? And how is a megafire different from a regular wildfire? How have recent fires permanently transformed the landscapes that Anja and Professor Craig ...

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Catalyst: Tsunami prevention in the Pacific

By investigating sediments and debris left by devastating tsunamis throughout history, Japanese scientists are making discoveries that change the way we understand disaster prevention in the Pacific. Watch as research teams examine rocks and mud layers; create digital simulations of past tsunamis; and investigate the seabed ...

Video

BTN: New Zealand's earthquakes

Damaged buildings, flooded roads, and crashed cars! No, it's not a bad dream; it's actually the aftermath of an earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2011. Find out about what causes earthquakes, the damage they cause, and why Christchurch was rocked by two quakes within six months. This clip includes footage of earthquake ...

Video

Catalyst: Volcanic eruptions at Mount Ruapehu

Imagine a volcano erupting kilometres away. You are afraid, worried for the safety of yourself and others. Paul Willis presents the work of New Zealand volcanologists conducting research at Mount Ruapehu, a volcano with a history of devastating lahar (water, sediment and rocks) flows. Learn more about lahar flows and the ...

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Earthquakes

This is an online resource about current earthquake activity in Australia and the wider region. The resource provides a map and a satellite image of near real-time earthquake activity in the last seven days. Links on the map provide further details and information about individual earthquake events. The resource also contains ...

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Where do volcanoes occur?

This is an online resource about where volcanoes occur, part of a larger resource about volcanoes. It provides: important information about the occurrence of volcanoes close to the Earth's tectonic plate boundaries; a map showing the Earth's tectonic plate boundaries; and, near the bottom of the screen, a link to a map ...

Online

Modelling tropical cyclones

This teacher resource is a Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) web page containing a lesson plan on modelling tropical cyclones. The resource clearly sets out lesson objectives and provides detailed notes about the outcomes expected. It includes a link to in-depth background material on a tropical cyclone's life cycle and development ...

Interactive

Sites2See – earthquakes

Resources on the topic of earthquakes to help explore the human and physical dimensions. Links to maps and interactive activities on plate tectonics, with a particular focus on the Caribbean plate, the movement of which caused the devastating earthquake in Haiti in January 2010, and links to news and information about the ...

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Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre

This resource is a Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) web page that provides warnings to the Australian community of tsunami threats to Australia's coastline and offshore territories. These warnings are issued by the Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre (JATWC) operated by Geoscience Australia and the Bureau. The resource shows ...

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Australian tsunami newsroom guide

This resource is a joint Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) and Geoscience Australia media guide PDF designed to assist the media to communicate tsunami warnings to the Australian public. The resource explains the role of the Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre (JATWC) operated by Geoscience Australia and the Bureau. The resource ...

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What causes volcanoes?

This is an online resource about the causes of volcanoes, part of a larger resource about volcanoes. It includes sections on the Earth's tectonic plate margins spreading, the Earth's tectonic plate margins subducting, and predicting volcanic eruptions. The image at the top of the screen illustrates the inside workings of ...