Natural Hazards Science Games

In this series of games, your students will learn about natural hazards, how they affect humans, and how we can predict and prepare for them. The Natural Hazards learning objective — based on NGSS and state standards — delivers improved student engagement and academic performance in your classroom, as demonstrated by research.

Scroll down for a preview of this learning objective’s games and the concepts they drive home.

Concepts Covered

Certain situations and events in nature, known as natural hazards, can have harmful impacts on humans. They can have direct effects, causing injury or death. There are also indirect impacts, such as causing property damage or scarcity of supplies. Examples of natural hazards include floods, severe weather, tsunamis, landslides, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and sinkholes.

Some natural hazards happen very quickly, such as earthquakes, while others, like erosion, are more gradual. It is important for scientists to study the history of these events, and what causes them, like plate tectonics, geothermal activity, the water cycle, and other natural processes.

Collecting this data allows them to create natural hazard risk maps that show where these events are likely to occur. But even with these maps, some such events are almost impossible to predict. Fortunately, other natural hazards can be predicted very accurately. For example, seismometers can measure earthquake activity and satellites can track hurricane paths.

Using predictive technology and knowing what areas are at risk helps us prepare for natural disasters and minimize their power to do damage. For example, we use telecommunication systems to instruct people to evacuate an area, and we construct earthquake- and flood-resistant buildings in high-risk areas.

A preview of each game in the learning objective is found below.

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