Ike Dike

• This article and video describe the proposed Ike Dike project, which is a coastal barrier that, when completed, would protect the coastal region of Texas near Houston and Galveston from storm surges.
• The video provides a dramatization of a family in the path of a hurricane, shows footage and images of hurricanes that have devastated the Texas coast since the year 1900, provides reasons for the proposed dike, and discusses tools that can be used to help individuals determine their flood risk.

Positives

• The video summarizes the contents of the article.
• The article is very brief and is an easy read.

Additional Prerequisites

• The resource assumes that learners have prior knowledge of hurricanes.
• The "Boating Party" link goes to a blank page.
  

Differentiation

• Students could be divided into groups to estimate the economic losses from a hurricane for a specific geographic area.
• Economics and social studies classes could discuss the costs of mitigating and preparing for future natural disasters as opposed to paying for the damages after a natural disaster (including the "costs" of lives lost and habitat destruction).
• Biology classes could discuss the ecosystem damages, effects on wildlife, and impacts to freshwater resources/ecosystems from major coastal storms.
• Other similar resources include this video about the connections between climate change and hurricanes, and this video about how a city in New Jersey is mitigating the effects of flooding on their city.