Shaky Isles: Hazards and Getting Ready

You need: a printed map of your school or neighbourhood · coloured pens or stickers · your regional council's online hazard map · a clipboard

1. Look up your area on the council hazard map. Note which layers cover it: flood, tsunami, liquefaction, landslide.
2. Shade each hazard area on your printed map in a different colour and make a key.
3. Walk the school in pairs. Mark the assembly area, safe spots under strong tables, and things that could fall or block a door.
4. Add arrows for the safest route to higher ground or the assembly point.
5. Label one action for each of the four Rs next to your map.

How you'll know: Your map shows at least two hazards, the safe places and routes, and one real action for each of the four Rs.

Safety: Stay in pairs inside the school grounds. Look, do not climb or move heavy furniture to check it.

Go further: Add four-figure grid references so a visitor could find each safe place on a Topo50 map.

You need: a clear plastic tub · fine sand · water · a small brick or heavy block · a light toy house or Lego house · a ruler

1. Fill the tub two-thirds with sand. Pour in water slowly until it is just below the sand's surface.
2. Press the sand flat. Stand the brick and the light house on top.
3. Predict what will happen when you shake the ground.
4. Tap the side of the tub steadily for 30 seconds. Watch the surface and the objects.
5. Measure how far the brick sank and describe what happened to the water. Repeat with dry sand and compare.

How you'll know: Shaking makes the wet sand behave like a liquid: water rises to the surface, the heavy brick sinks or tilts, and the light house may float up. Dry sand does not do this. You can link this to the eastern suburbs of Christchurch.

Safety: Work on a tray or tarp and mop spills straight away so nobody slips. Wash hands after handling wet sand.

Go further: Test whether a 'foundation' (a flat piece of card under the brick) or packing the sand down first makes a difference.

You need: a paper cup · string · a felt pen · a cardboard box with the top cut off · a long strip of paper (adding-machine roll or taped strips) · some coins or small stones

1. Poke a hole in the bottom of the cup and push the felt pen through so the tip pokes out.
2. Put coins in the cup for weight and hang it from string across the top of the box so the pen just touches the bottom.
3. Lay the paper strip under the pen. One person pulls the strip slowly and steadily.
4. A second person shakes the box gently, then harder. Label the calm, small and big wiggles.
5. Compare your trace with a real GeoNet seismogram. What is the same?

How you'll know: Your trace is flat when still and wiggles more with stronger shaking, like a real seismogram. You can explain that many recorders in different places let scientists find where a quake started.

Go further: Look up GeoNet's latest earthquakes list and find the one nearest your school. How deep and how strong was it?

You need: two short printed sources about one event (a science article and a resident's account) · highlighters in two colours · a source-detective card

1. Read both sources once all the way through.
2. For each, fill in the card: who made it, when, why, and for whom.
3. Highlight facts in one colour and feelings or opinions in the other.
4. List what each source tells you that the other does not.
5. Write one sentence that both sources support, and one question you would need a third source to answer.

How you'll know: You can explain why the two accounts differ (who wrote them and why) and name one fact they both support.

Go further: Find a third source, such as a photo from DigitalNZ or a GeoNet data page, and use it to check the claim you were unsure about.

You need: two identical baking trays · a sponge sheet, piece of turf or thick old towel · a plastic sheet or bin bag · a watering can and 1 L jug · two containers to catch runoff · a timer · books to tilt the trays

1. Cover one tray with sponge or turf (forest and grass) and the other with plastic (roads and roofs).
2. Tilt both trays at the same angle with a catch container at the low end.
3. Pour exactly 1 L of 'rain' over each tray from the same height over 30 seconds.
4. Time how long until water starts to run off, and measure how much you catch after two minutes.
5. Repeat twice to check your results and work out the average.

How you'll know: The plastic tray sheds water faster and more of it. You can use your data to explain why cleared hills and concrete make floods rise faster, and why keeping forest and wetlands helps.

Safety: Do this outside or on a tarp. Mop up spills at once and keep water well away from power points.

Go further: Add a strip of 'riverbank planting' (sponge) at the bottom of the plastic tray. Does it slow the water?

You need: role cards (farmer, kuia, council engineer, insurer, young family, orchard worker, local business owner) · a map of a made-up river valley · a talking stick or token

1. Read your role card. Note what your person values most and what they fear losing.
2. Hold the hui: each role speaks for one minute without interruption.
3. Mark on the map which houses are at highest risk.
4. As a group, choose an option: build a bigger stopbank, raise houses, move some homes, or move the whole settlement. Record who agrees and who disagrees, and why.
5. Step out of role and write what would be lost and gained by your choice.

How you'll know: You can explain what managed retreat is, give two different viewpoints fairly, and justify your group's choice with evidence.

Go further: Find out what 'Category 3' land meant in Hawke's Bay after Cyclone Gabrielle, and how it compares with Christchurch's red zone.

You need: the Get Ready plan template · a grab-bag checklist · a backpack and things from home (optional)

1. Talk with your whānau about where you would meet if you were apart, and who outside your town everyone would contact.
2. Plan how you would store enough water (about 3 litres per person per day for at least three days).
3. Tick off what your household already has: torch, radio, batteries, first aid kit, warm clothes, medicines, food that needs no cooking, pet supplies.
4. Choose three missing items and a way to get them cheaply.
5. Put the plan on the fridge and set a date to check it in six months.

How you'll know: Your household has a written plan with a meeting place, an out-of-town contact, a water plan and a list of what to add to the grab bag.

Safety: Do not include anything sharp or dangerous for a young child to reach. Medicines stay with adults.

Go further: Add a section for someone in your household with extra needs, such as a baby, a pet or a person who uses a wheelchair.

You need: your briefing script · picture cards for Drop, Cover and Hold · a junior classroom with tables

1. Write a two-minute script in simple words: why we drop, why we cover our head and neck, why we hold on.
2. Practise with a partner, then with a group pretending to be six-year-olds.
3. Teach the junior class and run one practice drill with them.
4. Ask the teacher and two students one question each about what they learned.
5. Improve one part of your script based on what they said.

How you'll know: The junior students can show Drop, Cover and Hold correctly and say one reason for it.

Safety: No running or pushing. Only practise under strong tables, and follow the junior teacher's class routines.

Go further: Adapt your script for someone who cannot drop to the floor, using Get Ready's advice.