Drought Basics

• In this interactive resource, students will learn about the different types of drought, the causes and effects of drought, and how scientists monitor it.
• Students will read, watch videos, and analyze graphs within the interactive presentation and there are discussion questions and other supporting materials provided.
  

Positives

• Teachers can easily assign this lesson as independent work via Google Classroom and other platforms.
• Students will remain engaged with various visualizations and graphics to illustrate the concepts.

Additional Prerequisites

• You may need to switch to Student View for the Launch button to work.
• Students will need to know the terms precipitation, climate, aridity, hydrological, and others before beginning the lesson.
• It may benefit students to understand the difference between a drought and a water shortage.

Differentiation

• Geography students can look at climate zones across the United States and discuss why drought means something different in different places. 
• Students in math classes can practice analyzing and answering questions about the graphs in the lesson.
• Students can brainstorm ways to conserve water in their homes or use a water footprint calculator to understand their water usage.
• If you want to assign the lesson as independent work, a Chrome extension to read the text aloud will help any struggling readers.

This resource addresses the listed standards. To fully meet standards, search for more related resources.