Getting Started

This CD will help you develop skills in:

• interpreting authentic data to produce conclusions about New Zealand's vulnerability to natural hazards
• recognition of indications of the development of natural hazard events
• managing the reactions to those events.

We specify the learning objectives for each section on its introductory page.

Orientation
A small map on the side bar will appear in the "hazards" sections. It shows you where the field stop is located. You can move this to provide context within the Bay of Plenty. The interactive map is available as a quick link for easy reference. It contains a wealth of information and we suggest you take the time to explore its capabilities. The interactive map requires Flash Player 8 (see technical specifications). The background provides information on the Bay of Plenty, which relates to natural hazards. As well as asking you to read this first, we have made it available to you as a quick link from other parts of the CD so that it can be referred to at any time.

The panoramas at the top of some pages have been taken from the best available vantage point to simulate what you'd see if you were on an actual field trip. You are directed to look at particular features. To do this, click on "view panorama" to open the QuickTime VR panorama movie, then use the mouse to pan and view the landscape. You can also zoom in and out. The link in the technical help section takes you to the download page for a "standalone" version of QuickTime. Other versions come with iTunes and are very large files to download.

Videos
The video clips provide explanations and demonstrations which would be provided by academic staff on a field trip. As well as appearing in the appropriate context on the CD, a list of all the videos is contained in the Extra resources (which also contains resources not found elsewhere). Before embarking on the Geology Field Trip, take a look at the interviews with Mere Butler and Tony Olsen to get a feel for the scale of Matata's disaster and its repercussions. These clips are particularly pertinent to both the Geology and Disaster Scenario sections of the CD.

Tasks
Most of the tasks are to be answered on hard copy, provided in the form of PDFs, which also contain instructions on how to carry out some of the tasks. We suggest that you print these out from the Lab task sheets section so that you can have them beside you as you work through the various lab tasks. The space allocated for answers is an indication of the amount we would like you to write. Ensure that your name and ID number is on EVERY sheet of paper you hand in.

Information about supported lab times and assessment of the tasks will be provided in lectures and on Cecil.

Location Material
A team from the University went on a location shoot to the Whakatane area in November 2005. All the panoramas and most of the video footage were shot at that time. Some additional photographic material has been generously provided by Environment Bay of Plenty, the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Ltd (GNS), and Whakatane Beacon. Their websites may also prove useful to you.