This interactive flood mapping tool shows which parts of New Jersey will be prone to future flooding based on three greenhouse gas emissions scenarios and various factors that can be adjusted.
Other helpful features include a tool called "municipal snapshots," which allows students to build a variety of reports on a chosen municipality, and "New Jersey MyCoast," which displays photos of actual flood events on the map.
Teaching Tips
Positives
This tool gives students a visual representation of how greenhouse gas emission levels will directly affect the rate of flooding in New Jersey.
Students can share, save, or print maps.
Additional Prerequisites
Students should start by clicking on the "total water levels tool," which will help them to understand the different data points.
The term "SLOSH" stands for sea, lake, and overland surges from hurricanes.
Differentiation
Science teachers could assign students different locations and scenarios and have them write a report showing what the location will look like in fifty years.
Social studies and civics classes could use the "map layers" section of the resource to introduce a variety of pertinent layers into the map.
Other resources on this topic include this interactive Google Earth resource on the fate of coastal cities and these podcastepisodes on sea level rise.
Scientist Notes
This map features data layers on flood hazards, social vulnerability, land-use and land-cover change, infrastructure, transportation, marsh, and open space in New Jersey. Students can navigate to gain insights on potential environmental hazards, the current level of social vulnerability, etc. Although the map contains some limitations, for instance, it does not include datasets on wind-driven tides and coastal erosion, it is an interactive and engaging tool and it's recommended for teaching.
Standards
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
ESS2: Earth's Systems
HS-ESS2-5 Plan and conduct an investigation of the properties of water and its effects on Earth materials and surface processes.
ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
MS-ESS3-2 Analyze and interpret data on natural hazards to forecast future catastrophic events and inform the development of technologies to mitigate their effects.
HS-ESS3-5 Analyze geoscience data and the results from global climate models to make an evidence-based forecast of the current rate of global or regional climate change and associated future impacts to Earth systems.
College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Standards
Dimension 2: Geography
D2.Geo.9.6-8 Evaluate the influences of long-term human-induced environmental change on spatial patterns of conflict and cooperation.
D2.Geo.9.9-12 Evaluate the influence of long-term climate variability on human migration and settlement patterns, resource use, and land uses at local-to-global scales.
