Hurricane Season, Grades 6-8
Learn How Hurricanes Are Formed, Tracked and Affected by Global Warming
Lesson Plans
- Hurricane!
Students in grades 6-8 learn how wind speed and water depth influence wave height. - Hurricanes as Heat Engines
Students in grades 6-12 examine authentic sea surface temperature data to explore how hurricanes extract heat energy from the ocean surface. -
Teaching and Learning Mathematics through Hurricane Tracking
Students in grades 6-8 investigate hurricanes by constructing and interpreting graphs, analyzing patterns, determining rates of change and ratios, using the distance formula, and estimating.
Additional Lessons
Activities
Hurricane Applet – Atlantic
Drag the hurricane and see the effect of sea surface temperature.
- Hurricane Bingo (Grades 5-12)
- The Surge of the Storm (Grades 5-12)
- Exploring Latitude and Longitude (Grades 6-8)
- Making, Using, and Understanding a Barometer (Grades 6-8)
- Make Your Own Anemometer (Grades 6-8)
- Create-a-Cane
- Aim a Hurricane
Background Resources
- How Do Hurricanes Form?
- Tropical Twisters
- NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- National Hurricane Center
- NASA's Hurricane Resource Page
- Storm Surge Overview
- Global Warming and Hurricanes
- Severe Weather and Natural Disasters
- Teaching and Learning About Hurricanes
Printables
- The Anatomy of a Hurricane (
PDF, 777 KB, 1 pg.) - Atlantic Basin Hurricane Tracking Chart ( PDF, 906 KB, 1 pg.)
- Eastern Pacific Hurricane Tracking Chart - National Hurricane Center ( PDF, 290 KB, 1 pg.)
- The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale
Animations & Video
Animations
- Evolution of a Hurricane
- CBS News Hurricane Animation
- Hurricane Katrina IR Animation
- Animation of Hurricane Katrina's lifespan
- The Lifespan of Hurricane Sandy
- Storm Surge Animations from NOAA's SLOSH model
COMMENTS:
Elaine McCauley | 2013/01/01