Midwest Governors Want Changes to Flood Management Priorities

Midwest governors, including Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, would like to make flood management and people the first priority of the U.S. Corps of Engineers when working on flood damaged areas.

Video

Council Bluffs

Iowa Core Standard

3-ESS3-1

Make a claim about the merit of a design solution that reduces the impacts of a weather-related hazard.

Driving Question

What is a possible solution to holding back flood waters?

Probing Questions

Why should people be concerned about floods?
What causes floods?
How could someone evaluate different solutions for holding back flood waters?

Classroom Suggestions

Students could:

Brainstorm why flooding is occurring.
Identify the different causes of flooding.
Compare and contrast different weather-related hazards.
Discuss how humans change the environment in both good and bad ways.
Research how different communities find solutions to weather-related hazards.
Discuss weather-related hazards throughout the country.

Resources

National Weather Service: The National Weather Service provides an interactive map showing the different weather patterns over the entire country.
United States Geological Survey (USGS) | Natural Hazard Mission Areas: This resource from the USGS contains the different natural hazards, the USGS science strategy, risk reduction, research, and the different programs offered.
United Nations | Disaster Risk Reductions: This resource from the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction explains what disaster risk reduction is and what concerns disaster risk reduction addresses.
National Centers for Environmental Information | Natural Hazards Viewer: This resource from the National Centers for Environmental Information contains filters to pick and choose which natural disasters to observe all over the world.

Contributors

Submitted by Chantel Karns and Olivia Tebben as part of their Iowa STEM Teacher Externship experience at Iowa PBS.

Media produced for Market to Market by Iowa PBS.