New British Red Cross resource

A new resource that I wrote for the British Red Cross has now been published, and placed online for download. It's taken almost a year from the original start of the project, which John Lyon asked me to do before he retired from the GA. During that time it has grown and become a major resource.

It's 130 pages long, and packed with ideas for teaching about natural hazards and humanitarian aid.

Free to download from the British Red Cross website.

“We urge all geography teachers to download this free resource and encourage young people to think about the humanitarian impact of natural disasters. This invaluable resource pack has been created with the technical input from the British Red Cross combined with the expertise of GA teacher consultants.”
Rebecca Kitchen, Secondary Curriculum Leader at the Geographical Association

Introduction and curriculum links

Learn about how the resource has been designed to support your teaching and how the content maps to the geography curriculum for KS3, GCSE and A Level.

Session 1: Natural disasters

Session 1 is an introduction to the Natural disasters: earthquakes resource. It sets the scene by introducing the topic of natural disasters alongside general ideas of risk and hazard.

• What do we mean by natural hazards and disasters and how can they be classified?
• Which natural hazards are the most common?
• What impacts will different natural disasters have on individuals and communities?

Session 2: Earthquakes

After a general introduction to natural hazards and disasters, this session moves on to look more specifically at earthquakes, with a focus on tectonic hazards.

• Where do earthquakes happen, and why?
• What were the causes of the Nepal earthquake?
• How can people who live in areas prone to natural hazards prepare themselves for future events?
• Could the Nepal earthquake have been predicted?

Session 3: The impact of a natural disaster

Session 3 focuses on the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster like an earthquake and the work of local and international Red Cross teams to support people affected.

• What was the immediate impact of the Nepal earthquake?
• What was the immediate humanitarian response to the earthquake?
• How were local and international communities involved in this response?

Session 4: Recovery and resilience

After a natural disaster the Red Cross supports the people affected as they start to recover and rebuild their lives.

• What are the longer term impacts of a natural disaster and how do people recover?
• How resilient were individuals and communities in Nepal to the earthquake?
• How can communities increase their resilience – what about the school community? What might make a community more or less resilient?
• What lessons can be learned from each event so citizens are better prepared for them in future?