Natural disasters questions
Nature is a powerful and awesome thing beyond the control of people. Occasionally, nature’s might creates huge problems for people and societies, often bringing large amounts of destruction. It can be a fascinating topic to talk about (in the correct circumstances). Here we have a list of conversation questions about natural disasters for you to do so.
There are some difficult words for English language learners on the free printable above, with the easiest natural disasters questions. You may want to pre-teach words such as – eruption, high winds, prepare, meteor, drought, hailstorm, earthquake, doomsday prepper, struck, and lightning.
There are also 6 natural disaster worksheets to go along with this activity that include vocabulary matching, writing, and puzzles.
Discussion questions about natural disasters –
1 – What type of natural disaster do you worry about the most and why?
2 – Are there any volcanoes in your country?
3 – What is dangerous about volcanic eruptions?
4 – What causes a tsunami? What countries experience them?
5 – What natural disasters occur in your country? Which have you seen?
6 – Have you ever been afraid during a storm or high winds?
7 – What is the difference between a hurricane, a cyclone, and a typhoon?
8 – How would you prepare if you knew a dangerous storm was coming?
9 – What would happen if a giant meteor hit planet Earth?
10- Have you seen any good disaster films? What happened in the films?
11- If the end of the world were coming, what would you do in your last week?
12- What causes a forest fire? Does your country have them?
13- Which do you think is more dangerous, a flood or a drought?
14- Have you ever been in a hailstorm? What did you do?
15- What happens when an earthquake hits? Have you ever experienced one?
16- Do you think animals know when a natural disaster is coming?
17- What is the worst natural disaster you know of? When did it happen?
18- What disasters do you think there will be more of in the future?
19- Have you ever helped people after a disaster? How did you help?
20- Which countries experience sandstorms? What do you think happens in one?
21- What do you think about doomsday preppers?
22- Have you ever heard of someone being struck by lightning?
23- Are there any good things that come from natural disasters?
24- Are there any places you wouldn’t want to live because of natural disasters?
25- Has the weather ever damaged something that you owned?
26- Which country in the world would you say has the most natural disasters? What kinds do they have?
27- What kinds of people and organizations come to help when there is a natural disaster in your country?
28- Where would you say is the safest place in the world to live for people who want to avoid natural disasters?
29- How would you prepare your home for a major flood or hurricane?
30- Do you believe that climate change and global warming are creating more natural disasters worldwide? How so?
31- Have you ever donated to help victims of a natural disaster? Where was it and what happened?
32- How would you know that a natural disaster was coming to where you live?
33- In which season and months do natural disasters usually occur in your country?
34- Have you ever had to deal without basic utilities such as water and electricity for more than 2 days? What happened?
35- How are natural disasters different from man-made disasters?
36- How would you stay safe if you were caught outdoors during extremely high winds?
37- Are landslides common where you live? What causes a landslide?
38- Has any kind of disaster ever blocked off roads in your town or city?
39- What would you take if you had to evacuate your home within 30 minutes?
40- What would be your first reaction if you were at home during an earthquake?
Disaster idioms and expressions
Here are some interesting related sayings to share with your class and continue your discussion after completing the natural disasters questions.
If something is a recipe for disaster, this means the act of doing something will end badly or result in an unfavourable way. For example, if you spend all your money and you don’t have a job, it is a recipe for disaster.
To flood someone with something is to give them too much of it. A person might be flooded with work or flooded with emails.
Even trivial things can be called a disaster if they go badly. A badly baked cake or an attempt to do something that doesn’t go well can be referred to as a disaster.
If a person holds in a lot of anger and then finally lets it all out, they can be said to erupt like a volcano.
