Shadow of a Drought

Science/Social Studies

Students will research droughts, their history, and their effects on people, animals, plants, and the environment as a whole.

What You Need

• Access to the Internet and/or reference books containing information about droughts.

What To Do

1. Divide the class into groups. Assign each group to research one or more of these questions about droughts:
   1. In which parts of the United States do droughts most frequently occur, and why? Where and when was the worst drought in recent U.S. history?
   2. What effects have droughts had on past civilizations?
   3. Do scientists know what causes droughts? Is global warming related to the occurrence of droughts? Can scientists predict the likelihood of droughts?
   4. How do people, including farmers and others who work on the land, deal with the effects of droughts? What happens to plants and animals during droughts? Is there anything people can do to prepare themselves and their environment to deal with droughts?
   5. Are there any benefits to droughts?
   6. Why are droughts sometimes taken less seriously than other natural disasters?
2. Assist students in finding online sources such as the National Drought Mitigation Center (http://enso.unl.edu/ndmc/) and help them sort through and simplify the abundance of in-depth information.
3. Have a class discussion during which each group can share its findings.