In the aftermath of the deadly tsunami that devastated parts of South Asia and the east coast of Africa on Dec. 26, educators and their students are using online resources to help explain the geological, geographical, cultural, and political elements of the disaster.

Kathy Schrock, technology administrator for the Nauset Public Schools on Cape Cod, Mass., said she received many eMail messages over the holiday vacation from teachers asking for resources on the subject. "Teachers who wrote to me seemed to be more interested in first explaining how such a disaster occurs so in my [weekly eMail discussion group for educators] I listed sites at all levels that dealt with the geologic and safety forces behind the event," she said.

Among Schrock's recommendations: The Discovery Channel web site features interactive maps that plot the geographic events that led to the deadly tidal waves. The maps also familiarize students with the South Asian region. The British Broadcasting Corp.'s web site includes a Macromedia Flash animation demonstrating how tsunamis occur. And the National Geographic site has a feature called Forces of Nature, which includes case studies of specific earthquakes throughout history. At press time on Jan. 6, the content of these case studies had not been updated beyond the 2004 earthquake in Bam, Iran. Given the destruction wrought by the Dec. 26 tsunami, teachers can expect these materials to be revised in the near future.

Lace Hardwick, a social studies teacher at Spring Valley High School in Huntington, W.Va., is using the internet to study the distribution of American aid to the affected areas.

"We used the CIA World Fact Book to study how much [economic] aid the countries affected by the tsunami receive from the United States annually," he said. His class then discussed those figures against recent criticisms that the U.S. has not given enough money to the tsunami disaster relief effort.

Hardwick said internet resources often provide up-to-the-minute information on current events, where perpetually outdated textbooks and print newspapers cannot.

As with most far-reaching world events, major news outlets such as the New York Times, National Public Radio, the Public Broadcasting Service, CNN, the BBC, and others have devoted special sections of their web sites to comprehensive coverage of the tsunami and subsequent humanitarian efforts. In addition, most major news sources have developed in-depth reports on relevant cultural and economic issues. Many also include specific sections on pedagogy. The New York Times Learning Network features writing assignments for students, a lesson plan for teaching about natural disasters, a list of related web sites presented with children in mind, and a science Q&A. The BBC's web site includes an expert's guide on how kids can cope with frightening news.