IMPLEMENTING A GEOLOGIC HAZARD UNIT IN TO ENTRY LEVEL GEOLOGY CLASSES

Natural hazards can affect a person’s life and property and instantaneously. Knowing natural geologic hazards in one’s surrounding can save millions in cost, toil, and even life. This unit will include natural hazards common to the Rocky Mountain Region: mass wasting, soil and subsidence issues, and flooding. In the last 100 years over 190 people have died in Colorado from flood events. Swelling clays cause about $2.3 billion dollars per year in damages nationwide. The problem of geologic hazards is worldwide with many people not aware of their existence.

Each year the Earth and Atmospheric department at the University of Northern Colorado has approximately 500 non-major students take an entry-level geology class. For most of the students this is the first and only time they will have the opportunity to study geology. It is important it expose these students to the topic of geologic hazards not only for their knowledge but also for recruitment of potential geoscience students as this particular subject could be of interest.

I have created a unit to be implemented in an introductory geology class that discusses natural geologic hazards. The unit includes the more potentially damaging hazards as well as those they may encounter in their life. The unit includes lecture material, activities, and assessments appropriate for non-geology classes. The goal is to teach these non-geology students the importance of geologic hazards, how they affect their environment, and how they could recognize these hazards.