Tsunami Resouce Links

Give immediate context to the events leading up to, and the hours following the earthquake off the shores of Sumatra. With these learning activities, students gain a basic understanding of earthquakes and tsunamis by looking at the time-distance effects of the December 26 tsunami. Take a critical look at the area's physical and human geography to understand why this disaster had the impact it had.

Explore detailed information from the Office of Naval Research of the Navy and NOAA, as well as the U.S. Geological Survey's preliminary earthquake report, including a lab activity in plotting the longitudes and latitudes of different cities and determining the time it would take for a tsunami wave to hit those cities.

A lesson plan for grades 3-5 about teaching how waves are created using a fan and marbles.

A lesson plan for grades 6-8 in which students build a tabletop village and use it to visualize the relative height and effects of tsunamis.

Find a tsunami warning comic and a water, wind, and earth game in the Tsunami Disaster Area at FEMA for Kids.

Visit NASA's tsunami Observatorium where you will find information on the physics behind the wave, warning systems, and casualty data. A quiz and word search activity are included.

See the before and after impact effect of the December 26, 2004 tsunami wave on the coastal zone.

Review what the US is doing in terms of tsunami tracking. This resource also has an excellent animation of the Indonesian tsunami spreading across the Indian Ocean, plus pages of specific information about tsunami maps and populations at risk in Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington.

Visualize recent and historical tsunami episodes with "Teaching Geoscience with Visualizations: Using Images, Animations, and Models Effectively."

Give your students a scientific perspective on tsunamis and a geographic understanding of Asia, Discovery Education has prepared video resources and discussion topics to use in the classroom.

Browse the companion site to the PBS series The Savage Earth, and includes explanatory pictures and animation of tsunamis.

The National Weather Service has initiated a Tsunami Awareness Program with tsunami warnings and maps of past and present tsunamis.

Basic information on detection of Tsunamis from L.A. Times Kid's Reading Room: "Scientists can warn us about coming tsunamis."

Read general information on tsunamis, including near real-time bulletins, explanations of how a tsunami is generated, and a description of warning systems.

Reference the National Weather Service site for press releases, advisories, information on recent tsunamis, an explanation of the physics of tsunamis, safety rules, and a selection of pictures.

Lookup information on tsunami events from 49 B.C. to the present in the Mediterranean and Caribbean Seas, and the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans in the National Geophysical Data Center's tsunami database.