Part 1: Engage (Anchoring Phenomenon)

Phenomenon: The Portland Brownstone Quarries in Connecticut provided much of the building material for iconic 19th-century architecture in New York City and Boston. The growth of these quarries brought significant wealth and population (workforce) to the area. However, the quarries were located immediately adjacent to the Connecticut River. In 1938, a massive natural hazard—The Great Hurricane of 1938—caused the river to severely flood the quarries. The damage was permanent, halting major operations and changing the trajectory of the settlement forever.

Discussion Questions:

1. How does the presence of a valuable natural resource (like brownstone) affect where people choose to live and work?
2. What are the risks of relying heavily on a single natural resource that is located near a potential natural hazard (like a river prone to flooding)?
3. Record two “need to know” questions you have about how natural resources and hazards influence human activity.

Part 2: Explore (Simulation Investigation)

In this activity, you will use the Portland Brownstone Quarry Simulator to investigate how the extraction of brownstone influences population (workforce) and wealth over time, and how the risk of a natural hazard (flooding) can alter human settlement.

Materials:

• Computer or tablet with internet access
• Portland Brownstone Quarry Simulator
• Data collection table (below)

Estimated Time: 45 minutes

Instructions:

1. Familiarize Yourself with the Controls: Open the simulation. Notice the grid representing the quarry, the river on the right, and the HUD tracking Year, Workforce, Stone (tons), Wealth ($), and Flood Risk.
2. Observe the Initial State: Record the starting Year, Workforce, Wealth, and Flood Risk in your data table.
3. Run the Simulation (Baseline Extraction):
   • Keep the Extraction Power per Worker slider at a moderate level (e.g., 2 or 3).
   • Click “Recruit Workers” to build your workforce when you have enough wealth ($500).
   • Click “Mine 1 Year” to extract stone. Watch the grid change.
   • Click “Sell Stone to NYC” to convert extracted stone into wealth.
   • Record data in your table every 5-10 “Years” of simulation time, or whenever a major event occurs (e.g., an accident, bankruptcy, or flooding).
4. Observe the Flood Risk: As you mine closer to the river (the right side of the grid), observe what happens to the “Flood Risk” bar. Record how the risk changes over time.
5. Run the Simulation (High Risk/High Reward):
   • Reset the simulation.
   • Try to maximize wealth as quickly as possible by increasing the Extraction Power per Worker slider to a high level (e.g., 4 or 5) and recruiting many workers.
   • Record what happens to the workforce (accidents) and the overall longevity of the operation before a flood occurs.
6. The Great Hurricane of 1938: Continue playing until the year approaches 1938. Observe and record the catastrophic event and its immediate impact on the workforce and wealth.

Data Collection Table

Part 3: Explain (Sensemaking)

Use your data and observations from the simulation to answer the following questions:

1. Natural Resources and Human Activity: Based on your data, describe the cause-and-effect relationship between the availability of the natural resource (brownstone) and the features of the human society (workforce size and wealth). Use specific numbers from your data table as evidence. ___ _______
2. Natural Hazards and Human Activity: How did the proximity to the river affect the settlement over time? Specifically, what happened to the workforce and wealth when the catastrophic flood occurred? ___ _______
3. Balancing Risk and Reward: When you increased the extraction power to maximize profits, what were the negative consequences for the workforce? Did the increased wealth justify the increased risk? Explain your reasoning. ___ _______

Part 4: Elaborate/Evaluate (Argumentation & Modeling)

Student Deliverable: Construct a scientific explanation.

Prompt: Construct an explanation based on evidence for how the availability of natural resources and the occurrence of natural hazards influenced human activity in the Portland brownstone quarries.

Your explanation must include:

• A clear claim about how resources and hazards shaped the settlement.
• Specific quantitative evidence from your simulation data (e.g., changes in workforce numbers, wealth, and flood risk percentages).
• Reasoning that connects the evidence to the claim, explaining the cause-and-effect relationships between the environmental factors (the brownstone and the river) and the human society (population size and economic stability).
• A brief discussion on how modern technology (which was not present in the 1930s simulation) might have mitigated the effects of the flood hazard on the quarry operations today.

Extension Options

• Historical Case Study: Research the actual Great Hurricane of 1938 and its impact on the Northeast United States. Compare the historical outcomes to the simulation’s model of the event.
• Modern Analogs: Identify a modern community that relies heavily on a single natural resource but faces a significant natural hazard (e.g., a coastal fishing town facing sea-level rise, or a mining town in an earthquake zone). Write a short report comparing their situation to the Portland quarries.

Teacher Notes

NGSS Alignment:

• Performance Expectation: HS-ESS3-1: Construct an explanation based on evidence for how the availability of natural resources, occurrence of natural hazards, and changes in climate have influenced human activity.
• Science and Engineering Practice (SEP): Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
• Disciplinary Core Idea (DCI): ESS3.A: Natural Resources; ESS3.B: Natural Hazards
• Crosscutting Concept (CCC): Cause and Effect

Evidence Statements Addressed:

• 1.a.i: Students construct an explanation that includes specific cause and effect relationships between environmental factors (natural hazards, changes in climate, and the availability of natural resources) and features of human societies including population size and migration patterns. (Student work will demonstrate this by using simulation data to show how brownstone availability increased workforce/wealth, while the flood hazard drastically reduced it).
• 1.a.ii: Students construct an explanation that includes that technology in modern civilization has mitigated some of the effects of natural hazards, climate, and the availability of natural resources on human activity. (Student work will demonstrate this in the Elaborate/Evaluate section by discussing how modern technology could have mitigated the 1938 flood).
• 2.a.i: Students identify and describe the evidence to construct their explanation, including natural hazard occurrences that can affect human activity and have significantly altered the sizes and distributions of human populations in particular regions. (Student work uses the simulated 1938 flood event and its impact on the workforce as evidence).
• 2.a.iii: Students identify and describe the evidence to construct their explanation, including features of human societies that have been affected by the availability of natural resources. (Student work uses the growth of the workforce and wealth linked to stone extraction as evidence).
• 3.a.i: Students use reasoning that connects the evidence to describe the effect of natural hazards, changes in climate, and the availability of natural resources on features of human societies, including population size and migration patterns. (Student work connects the numerical data to the conceptual shifts in population and economic stability).