ERB201 Destructive Earth: Natural Hazards
To view more information for this unit, select Unit Outline from the list below. Please note the teaching period for which the Unit Outline is relevant.
| Unit code: | ERB201 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Timetable | Details in HiQ, if available |
| Availabilities |
|
| CSP student contribution | $1,118 |
| Domestic tuition unit fee | $4,680 |
| International unit fee | $5,244 |
Unit Outline: Semester 1 2024, Gardens Point, Internal
| Unit code: | ERB201 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Coordinator: | Scott Bryan | scott.bryan@qut.edu.au |
Overview
In ERB201 Destructive Earth, we will focus on the Science of Natural Hazards. By understanding the conditions and processes that lead to, and cause, severity of natural processes such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, landslides, cyclones, tornadoes, storms/blizzards, floods, bushfire, and asteroid impacts, you will be better informed as to why there are natural hazards and disasters, and how to prepare and mitigate for future events that will have a range of social, economic and political impacts. We will build on the knowledge and skills developed in Year 1 to provide you with a global perspective of how we, as a society, will continually be confronted by natural hazards.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Identify and describe the diversity of natural hazards, their processes and the potential implications on the environment and human populations.
- Explain the spatial and temporal distribution of natural hazards, and the circumstances that increase their severity, as a basis for predicting future risk.
- Investigate and report how communities perceive threats and risks from natural hazards, in particular, after they have been impacted by a natural disaster.
- Work independently or collaboratively as a member of a diverse team.
Content
The major topics to be covered in this course will begin with defining natural hazards and understanding risk and vulnerability, and what makes a natural hazard become a natural disaster. We will then investigate the physical processes behind the main types of natural hazards including earthquakes and tsunamis, volcanism, a range of weather-related phenomena such as tropical cyclones, flooding, tornadoes, and storms/blizzards, bushfires, and extra-terrestrial threats such as from asteroid impacts. We will also focus on some of the more recent natural disasters, including flooding and cyclones that have affected so much of Queensland since 2010, to understand better the circumstances that increased their severity. As a developing scientist, you will be challenged to consider social, economic and political perspectives of natural disasters, and where human actions or inactions have been a significant factor in the severity of a disaster.
Learning Approaches
Lecture/lectorial: 2 hrs/week
Practicals: 10 per semester, Up to 3 hrs/week
Approaches to teaching and learning include formal lectures and a series of collaborative workshops/practicals. Lectures are to provide the scientific background on the topics being investigated and rationale for problem-solving workshops. Problems addressed in workshops will be drawn from the exploration of issues specific to the range of natural hazards, such as understanding the basis for their prediction and mitigation. The applied project will be used to develop your practical skills in data collection, recording, synthesis, and communication, as well as providing the opportunity to gauge and understand community perceptions of natural hazards and their perceived risk and vulnerability.
This unit also has a component of Work Integrated Learning, as your second assessment task will be based on a real industry problem and your work will be assessed in consultation with industry experts.
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
Multiple opportunities for feedback are provided in collaborative and practical activities as well as related assessments. These opportunities include
Individual and group feedback on practical work, peer review of presentations and written feedback on Portfolio work.
Assessment
Overview
Assessment will include a Portfolio of practical problem solving tasks, a group study project (Discussion Forum and Oral Presentation) and a final summative exam.
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: Portfolio
A compilation of your work produced during the practical workshops. Problem solving tasks undertaken in practical sessions will focus on: 1) The Impact of Natural Disasters; 2) Plate Tectonics and Earthquakes; 3) Volcanic Eruptions; and 4) Extreme Weather impacts.
This is an assignment for the purposes of an extension.
Assessment: Project (applied)
A group-based exercise where you will conduct an investigative questionnaire-based study, discuss your results in a forum with your peers, and then report (Oral Presentation) group findings of people's perceptions of natural hazards and risks to emergency-management decision makers. The SE Queensland region has suffered significantly since 2011 from flooding, cyclonic winds and storms. You will use questionnaires to interview the public to gain responses to a variety of issues, and then critically assess the responses and consider how the public perception may vary, based on a variety of demographic factors (e.g., age, gender, location).
Assessment: Timed Online Assessment
Summative assessment of theoretical knowledge on the topic.
Academic Integrity
Students are expected to engage in learning and assessment at QUT with honesty, transparency and fairness. Maintaining academic integrity means upholding these principles and demonstrating valuable professional capabilities based on ethical foundations.
Failure to maintain academic integrity can take many forms. It includes cheating in examinations, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, and submitting an assessment item completed by another person (e.g. contract cheating). It can also include providing your assessment to another entity, such as to a person or website.
You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.
Further details of QUT’s approach to academic integrity are outlined in the Academic integrity policy and the Student Code of Conduct. Breaching QUT’s Academic integrity policy is regarded as student misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.
Resources
Risk Assessment Statement
Currently, there are no out of the ordinary risks expected for this unit. You will be made aware of evacuation procedures and assembly areas in the first few lectures. In the event of a fire alarm sounding, or on a lecturer's instruction, you should leave the room and assemble in the designated area which will be indicated to you. You should be conscious of your health and safety at all times whilst on campus or in the field.
Ethics clearance may be required to allow you to undertake interviews of the public regarding the perceptions of natural hazards and their risk/vulnerability to them.