Afognak and the 1964 Tsunami
Campsite Version

Lesson Summary
Objective: To give students a first-hand look at what the residents of Afognak Village had to do to avoid the tsunami, and show them the destruction a tsunami can cause to a village.

Outcomes:

• Students will learn about the history of Afognak Village.
• Students will understand the destructive power of a tsunami.
• Students will learn what to do in case of a tsunami warning.
• Students will gather leaf samples for a subsequent activity.
  

Materials needed:

• Appropriate outdoor clothes; Zip-lock baggie for leaves

Process

Gear up: Show students pictures from “The Red Cedar of Afognak,” showing people on the mountain watching the tsunami. Read that part of the story to the students.

Explore: Take students on a hike along the evacuation route to the top of the route, where they can look down at the old village, the shoreline and the ocean. Once up there, tell them that on Good Friday 1964, everyone from the village had to go up there to avoid the tsunami and they stayed there for three days, until it was safe to come down. Tell them how the water supply was contaminated and why the village residents had to be evacuated and relocated to Port Lions.

On the way back, tell students to pay attention to the trees they encounter along the way and to gather leaves/needles from the ground underneath the trees for a future activity.

Generalize: Ask them if they know where they would go if there were a tsunami coming near their home. Remind them they have to go to high ground as soon as they hear the warning (could be a warning on the radio or a siren warning). If they wait until they can see the tsunami coming, it’s too late. Tsunamis are much faster than people, so people can’t outrun them.

Lesson Outline:
    1. A Driftwood Story
    2. Properties of Wood
    3. Cultural Uses of Wood – Past and Present
    4. Tides – Gravitational Pull of the Moon
    5. Wind, Tides and Currents
    6. Earthquakes and Tsunamis
    7. Afognak and the 1964 Tsunami
        (Camp version, classroom version)
    8. Celebration of Trees
        •  Driftwood Art
        •  Driftwood Stories and Poems
    9. Celebrating Alutiiq Customs and Traditions

    Appendix: Resources Used