Students investigate the question, “How can people use observations and evidence to protect a community from weather, erosion, or other Earth hazards?” by examining simple climate, hazard, and natural resource data connected to real places and people. They build understanding of how natural hazards, resources, and climate changes influence human activity, then use that evidence to make a short-term forecast and propose a community safety or planning solution. Through hands-on models, team investigations, and a public share-out, students practice communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and self-reflection in ways that are accessible with strong scaffolds and visual supports.

Students will use the question, “How can people use observations and evidence to protect a community from weather, erosion, or other Earth hazards?” to guide their work as they investigate local hazards, natural resources, and climate impacts. They will collect and interpret simple geoscience data, compare patterns in weather, erosion, and climate change, and use evidence to explain how these Earth systems affect human activity and community decisions. Students will work in teams to design and present a clear, evidence-based community safety or preparedness recommendation using visuals, models, sentence frames, and peer feedback. Students will build skills in collaboration, communication, reflection, and problem solving through hands-on investigations, discussion, and revision.

Students will create a hazard observation notebook with labeled sketches, photo evidence, simple data tables, and sentence frames that help them answer the question, “How can people use observations and evidence to protect a community from weather, erosion, or other Earth hazards?” Teams will also build and test a small hands-on model, such as a flood barrier, erosion control design, or wind-resistant structure, and record results from each trial. By the end, each team will produce a community safety recommendation poster or slide with a claim, evidence from their model and data, and a simple forecast about possible local climate or hazard impacts. Students will share their work in a short presentation or gallery walk and complete a brief reflection on how their ideas changed through feedback and teamwork.

Start with a “hazard in our community” simulation: show short video clips and photos of local-style flooding, erosion, drought, heat waves, or severe storms, then let teams handle simple materials like sand, soil, rocks, spray bottles, and water trays to model what happens to land during each event. Ask the essential question, “How can people use observations and evidence to protect a community from weather, erosion, or other Earth hazards?” and have students make quick notice-and-wonder observations using sentence frames, sketches, and labeled pictures instead of long writing. End with a gallery walk of team models and a class discussion about which hazards cause the most damage, what evidence they saw, and how people might respond. This launch builds background knowledge, supports diverse reading levels, and gives students a shared experience they can revisit throughout the project.

Host a “Community Hazard Fair” where teams present a simple hazard-preparedness display board and 3-D model showing how observations and evidence can protect a community from weather, erosion, or other Earth hazards. Invite families, school staff, and a local expert such as an emergency manager, science teacher, or city planner to rotate through stations, ask questions, and give feedback using a short checklist with icons and sentence starters. Students should explain their evidence with visuals, labeled maps, sample data charts, and a brief practiced script, so all learners can participate successfully. End with a gallery walk and reflection where students name one thing they learned from another team and one action people can take to stay safer.