Natural Hazards connects the geosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere into one coherent picture of why earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, and floods happen — and how they intersect with human life.
What D855 covers
The course delves into the complex and dynamic processes that govern Earth's natural systems and the hazards they produce. Students explore how the geosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere interact to create natural events such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, floods, and tsunamis, with an emphasis on plate tectonics for lithospheric hazards.
Students also learn about atmospheric hazard formation (hurricanes, floods, tornadoes), examine how human activities impact hazard frequency and intensity, and how hazards influence human behavior, gaining a comprehensive understanding for analyzing challenges in natural and human-altered environments.
The D855 performance assessment
Expect a performance assessment requiring you to analyze a specific natural hazard (e.g., an earthquake or hurricane), explaining the Earth-systems processes that produced it and its human impact.
Key topics in D855
- Plate tectonics and lithospheric hazards
- Atmospheric hazard formation
- Human impact on hazard frequency/intensity
- Earth systems interactions
Writing tips for D855
Follow the task instructions and rubric line by line
WGU performance assessments for D855 are graded against a fixed rubric — every rubric line has to be visibly addressed, usually with a labeled heading that mirrors the rubric language. Skipping a rubric point because it seems minor is the single most common reason a competent submission comes back "Not Yet Competent" for revision.
Ground every claim in a specific secondary grade level and science content
Secondary Science Education courses like D855 typically ask you to apply content knowledge and pedagogy to a specific grade level and science topic rather than write about teaching in the abstract. Evaluators are checking whether your reasoning fits that concrete classroom situation — vague, generic statements about "good science teaching" usually lose rubric points for lacking that specificity.
Because WGU is self-paced, don't let "no deadline pressure" become no submission
There's no weekly due date forcing progress, which means procrastination costs more at WGU than at a traditional term-based school — a stalled task can quietly eat weeks of a term. Treat your own target date for each D855 assessment as a real deadline.
Stuck on your D855 task?
Our writers know WGU's competency-based format and this course's performance assessment. Get an original, properly cited paper matched to your task instructions.
Why students seek help with D855
Candidates sometimes describe a hazard event without tracing the underlying Earth-systems process (e.g., the specific plate-tectonic mechanism behind an earthquake) — the rubric typically wants that causal science explained, not just the event described.
How GradeEssays helps with D855
Share your hazard scenario and rubric, and your writer will build an analysis that genuinely traces the underlying Earth-systems process, not just a description of the event.
Get Help With D855
Share your task instructions and rubric and we match you with a writer who knows this course and WGU's evaluation standards.
Place Your Order View All ServicesPrerequisites and program context
D855 has no prerequisites. Part of WGU's undergraduate Science Education (Secondary) teacher-licensure curriculum.