This activity is a student based inquiry looking at various natural disasters and their impact.

Students are are introduced to Excel and its capabilities by building some simple spreadsheets.

Students continue their introduction to Excel by building spreadsheets that estimate the risk of a major earthquake along the Cascadia Subduction Zone to Benton County, Oregon.

Students learn about the weighted mean by building spreadsheets that apply this concept to the average density of the oceanic lithosphere.

Students learn about the weighted mean by building spreadsheets that apply this concept to the average density of the oceanic lithosphere.

Video Description:  Our Earth is a dynamic system with diverse subsystems that interact in complex ways.What are those subsystems and how do they interact?How are these subsystems and the global Earth system changing?What causes these changes?How does NASA monitor these changes?How can Earth system science provide societal benefit?Jessica Taylor, an atmospheric scientist at NASA Langley Research Center, and Dr. Steven Pawson, an Earth scientist from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, help answer these questions and demonstrate how mathematical modeling helps scientists in their predictions of climate, weather, and natural hazards.  Video Length:  5:02.NASA eClips Real World segments (grades 6-8) connect classroom mathematics to 21st Century careers and innovations.  They are designed for students to develop an appreciation for mathematics through real-world problem solving.

Students use a spreadsheet to compute the hypothetical risk of an Andrew-like hurricane to downtown Miami.

Students use spreadsheets to analyze the reasons why New Orleans has subsided in the past 250 years.