The Disasters in the Movies – Signature Assignment is more than a final project, it’s a way to showcase what you’ve learned all semester. You will watch a disaster movie and complete a project that looks into the science of a natural hazard depicted in the film, explains the effects of natural processes on the environment, as well as research data, and explore the relationship between humans and disasters, through the lens of Disasters in the Movies.
Details about the assignment are found in the sections below.
AUDIENCE
The audience for your project is two-fold.
- You are writing for me, as I will ultimately be grading the project.
- You will be sharing your project with your peers, and possibly with future employers if you choose to offer them the link to your ePortfolio as part of your resume.
Therefore, you should make sure that your writing (and other media) is friendly but professional and well edited. The tone for the project should be for a General Audience – meaning anyone interested in reading it can understand it.
PURPOSE
The main purpose of this assignment is to demonstrate to me that you understand natural hazards and can:
- Explain the relationship between the magnitude, frequency, seasonality, or cycles of natural disasters
- Identify the dynamic interconnections between earth processes and their effects on the environment
- Use scientific methods to gather, analyze, and synthesize quantitative and qualitative data from multiple sources
- Make inferences and formulate predictions using scientific data, observations, and methods
- Examine the effects of natural hazards on human environments
- Demonstrate how natural hazards become disasters and ultimately catastrophes
- Determine the roles of federal and local governments, non-profits, communities, and individuals in natural disaster mitigation preparedness, response, and recovery
- Give examples of how population growth, social and economic inequality, poor land-use practices, and concentration of infrastructure in hazardous areas are increasing our vulnerability to natural disasters
PRODUCT
You will generate a report for this project. In addition to text (some text is mandatory), the report should include at least one additional type of media such as a recording, a video, movie trailer, map, graph, etc. You will also have a written reflection. The final project will be published on your ePortfolio.
PROCESS/ WHAT YOU’LL TURN IN
Ultimately, you will write an essay about 700-1000 words long (5-10 paragraphs) maximum. You should also include at least one diagram, figure, or map, which must be correctly cited in your bibliography. The entire report will be turned in by publishing it on your ePortfolio, and submitting the link.
Details
Now, you should watch the movie, paying special attention to the following aspects of the plot:
- How was this film related to the disaster? How was the disaster used to move the story forward?
- What is the science behind the phenomenon you chose to research? This should be the most significant section of your paper!
- Describe the direct and indirect effects of the disaster.
- What could the government have changed?
- Explain the long-term global impacts of the disaster.
Next, begin to write your paper by addressing each of the 5 points above. For more information about direct and indirect effects of disasters, refer to section 1.5 in the online textbook. You should also make sure that you address each of the learning outcomes stated in the PURPOSE section above, while you answer the 5 prompts.