We have used serendipity and the Web to enhance teaching our GLY 110 (Endangered Planet) classes at the University of Kentucky about natural disasters. Each class meets twice weekly in a "smart" lecture hall with Internet access, then divides into smaller recitation groups once a week. Lecture notes and some recitation exercises are posted on the Web (www.uky.edu/AS/Geology) with links to supplemental information. Our most useful exercises have combined case studies with writing assignments about the impacts of real or fictional disasters (such as floods, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes). One such exercise originated on February 22-23, 2001, when we asked students to write first-person accounts of a hypothetical Seattle earthquake. The Mw 6.8 Nisqually earthquake struck on February 28. We took advantage of this coincidence by reviewing news accounts of the earthquake in class (including showing images and data from the Web) and asking students how their projections compared with "real life". Subsequent exercises addressed the regional effects of a hypothetical New Madrid earthquake and the causes of slope failure, including earthquakes. The latter assignment drew from an on-line Atlantic Monthly article on landslides that focused on the Pacific Northwest. Student understanding of the causes and effects of the Nisqually earthquake was demonstrated on a multiple-choice midterm test as well as in the homework essays. 83% of respondents recognized that the extent of damage was probably minimized by the depth at which the earthquake originated. 87% indicated that the earthquake damaged unreinforced brick buildings, highways, and runways; caused landslides; but did not cause multiple fatalities.

Serendipity may not produce a disaster in a given locale on schedule with your syllabus, but disasters occur somewhere on Earth every semester--be prepared and alert! Develop exercises that anticipate the settings and types of damage associated with a given type of disaster; when newsworthy events occur, quickly follow up with assignments that include Web-based research on actual damage for comparison. Web-based assignments on recent disasters are less impressive, but (especially in the case of locally relevant events) they also can be valuable in engaging students.