Practice and Results of Natural Flood Damage Susceptibility Analysis for Secondary School Students using GSI Maps

Abstract

　This study examined whether junior high school and high school students can determine natural water inundation predisposing factors using GSI maps a web map developed by the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan （GSI）.　With a specific focus on the microtopography formed by rivers, students presented the susceptibilities of the 2019 floods of the Kuji River in Ibaraki Prefecture and the 2004 floods of the Maruyama River in Hyogo Prefecture, based on information on the causes of landform formation and elevation collected using GSI maps.　The results revealed that the majority of students were able to master the basic functions of the GSI maps, had the ability to make inferences based on geographic information and developed an understanding of the triggers of natural disasters and their susceptibility factors.　The students were apt to select a coloured contour map during the activity;however, they were unable to conduct a cross-section of geomorphology.　The reason for this result may be that the students lacked sufficient knowledge on topography.　Given their academic ability in terms of geomorphology, GSI maps are deemed beneficial to geography classes in Japan.