CORS 220: The Disaster Map Project
Your first assignment of the semester involves the attached "Disaster Map" that appeared as an accompaniment to an article in Popular Science ("When Earth Attacks" by Michael Behar; Popular Science, May 2005, p.46-60). The map illustrates 38 separate disaster events around the world in recorded history, and provides a synopsis of the event itself.
We are very accustomed to reading about events such as these in popular periodicals or perhaps on the internet. But in the modern age, we have also become complacent and do not question whether what we read is either factually or scientifically accurate. We simply "believe" what is written at face value.
Your task is to select one of the 38 events recorded on the Disaster Map and then check it for factual and scientific accuracy. I do not mean to imply that Popular Science misrepresented anything in their article. Rather, I want you to delve further into the disaster in question to see if there are any ambiguities, inconsistencies, or confusion regarding actual events or statistics, and yes, even errors.
You will do this by using any resources at your disposal, including the internet, library books and periodicals, and archived newspapers. However, at the end of your report, you must provide an exhaustive list of EVERY source of information you used, including a list of all website addresses. You will undoubtedly begin to realize that sometimes one must question which sources provide factually accurate information. You must also comment on which sources of information you think may be more reliable than others, and why.
Report Guidelines:
* Your report must be at least 3 but no more than 5 pages in length (1.5 line spacing; 10-12pt text; 1" margins).
* Your report must include a title, your name, an introduction (outlining the particular disaster to be discussed and how it was represented on the Disaster Map), then a discussion of your findings.
* A large part of this discussion will involve documenting the disaster event itself in more detail than what is provided on the Disaster Map. Where you found conflicting information about events, include this in the discussion.
* You may use sub-headings to differentiate paragraphs that focus on different themes (this makes the report easier to read).
* Your grade will be determined by content, writing style, and grammar (so use the grammar/spelling check functions in your word processing software program).
* You may include figures with your report at the end of the text. The figures will not count towards the 3-5 page length restriction (nor will the list of references/websites used), but their inclusion may strengthen your grade.
* Please ensure that your report is printed on a decent printer (i.e., no almost-empty printer cartridge printouts).
This report will be worth 20 points.
PROJECT DUE DATE: Due in class on Thursday, September 2nd. Late submissions (up to 5 pm) can be uploaded onto Blackboard as a PDF (with a 25% grade deduction). Only late submissions must be uploaded to Blackboard.
DISASTER MAP: [HTML (GIF) format (1.1 MB)] [Acrobat pdf format (1.2 MB)] [Adobe Illustrator format (0.2 MB)]
The topics will be made available on a first-come, first-served basis. Please select your top 5 choices of which disasters you will like to research and email me your selections (simkat@uidaho.edu). Disaster assignments will be listed below, so you can see which topics are still available for selection.
Disaster Topics:
1. Northwestern U.S. (1964): Maxfield Randall
2. Washington State (1980): Kelsie Saxe
3. San Francisco (1906): Alisha Burgess
4. Alberta, Canada (1903):
5. Central U.S. (1925): Olivia Haberman
6. Northeastern U.S. (1938): Laura Cumber
7. Texas (1900): Creed Thie
8. Florida (1992):
9. Central America (1998): Steven Filter
10. Hispaniola (2004):
11. Montserrat (1997): Vicky Hart
12. Martinique (1902): Lana Barg
13. West Indies (1780):
14. Venezuela (1999): Claire Stevenson
15. Peru (1970): Daphne Jackson
16. Portugal (1755): Joe Heiner
17. Spain (218 BC):
18. Italy (79 AD): Kristen Cox
19. Greece (~1500 BC): Margaret Lauer
20. Egypt (1201):
21. Russia (2002): Megan Blackburn
22. Turkmenistan (1948):
23. Iran (2003): Sara Hendricks
24. Bangladesh (1989): Shawna Carlson
25. Bangladesh (1970): Jared Watt
26. Indian Ocean (2004):
27. Indonesia (1883): Tyler Smotherman
28. China (1931): Jimmy Li
29. China (1920):
30. China (1556):
31. Japan (1923): Jared Edmonds
32. Japan (1707):
33. Monster Tsunami (1958): Hailey Hirst
34. Monster Volcano (prehistoric):
35. Monster Tornado (1999): Amy Jacobsen
36. Monster Earthquake (1960):
37. Monster Landslide (1911): Jordan Bigelow
38. Monster Hurricane (1979):
BACK