Download Be a Hurricane Tracker

Author: Patricia Jordan
Title: Be a Hurricane Tracker
Subject Area(s): Science: Earth Science (Meteorology)
Grade(s): 3-5
Description of Lesson: Students will use selected sites to independently learn background information about
hurricanes. They will then spend approximately two weeks following the path and recording the track of an
actual hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean during its life cycle. Tracking will be recorded on a hurricane tracking
chart, and locations will be plotted using the latitude and longitude of the hurricane’s location each day.
Length of Lesson: Approximately two weeks after initial 2 class sessions
Student Objectives:
1. Students will understand the life cycle of a hurricane.
2. Students will observe, describe, and record the path that a hurricane follows during its life cycle.
Materials: computer with internet access, hurricane tracking chart, copy paper, pencils
Procedure:
1. Begin class discussion by asking students if they have seen any information about hurricanes in the
news. Do they remember hearing anyone talk about the destruction that hurricanes can cause?
2. Have students construct a flip book titled “Hurricanes” with an appropriate illustration on the cover.
The pages of the flip book should be titled: What is a hurricane? How do hurricanes form? What is a storm
surge? How are hurricanes named? and When is hurricane season? Students will explore the following site to
find information to complete their flip book: http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-hurricane.htm
3. Explain to students that they will be tracking a hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean. But before they do,
they need to have information to help them understand the paths that a hurricane may follow. Have students
go to the site: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/outreach/games/movncane.htm . This site is the location of the
game, “Aim the Hurricane.” This game allows students to see how the winds (highs and lows) work together
to see where a hurricane will strike. Give students time to explore this site.
4. Print copies for each student of the Hurricane Tracking Chart from
http://seacoos.org/Community%20and%20Classroom/hurricane-classroom/atlantic-hurricane-trackingchart.pdf .
5. Have students log in each day to the National Hurricane Center site to monitor and plot a point with
the date at the location of the hurricane in question: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/?atlc Before beginning, have
students hypothosize on the path the storm will take based on the activity they did in #3 above.
6. At the conclusion of this activity have a class discussion about the path the hurricane took. Did it
approach the path that the students had hypothesized about before they began tracking?
Scientific Explanation:
A hurricane is an area of low pressure that forms over oceans in tropical regions in either the north Atlantic
Ocean or eastern north Pacific Ocean. When such a storm develops in the western Pacific Ocean, then it is
called a Typhoon. This type of storm in the Indian Ocean is called a tropical cyclone.
A hurricane is a powerful, rotating storm that measures 320 to 480 kilometers or 200 to 300 miles in
diameter. The winds near the center of a hurricane blow at speeds of 119km or 74 miles per hour or more.
Hurricanes have been known to cause widespread death and destruction.
Hurricanes develop over warm ocean waters near the equator. The warm moist air rises from the surface
creating an area of low pressure below. Air from surrounding areas with higher pressure move in and rise too.
This is fuel for the hurricane. As the air warms and rises, it begins to swirl. As the warm air rises, it then cools
the water contained in the air and forms clouds. The whole system is fed by heat and evaporating water.
The center of the hurricane is called an eye, which is a calm area. Hurricane winds swirl around the eye. The
eye of a hurricane measures about 32km or 20 miles in diameter and has few winds or clouds. Storm clouds
called wall clouds surround the eye. The strongest winds and heaviest rain of a hurricane occur within its wall
clouds.
Hurricane season in the north Atlantic and north Pacific Oceans occur from June to November, peaking in
September. There is an average of about 6-8 hurricanes in the north Atlantic and eastern north Pacific each
year, but there have been as many as 15.
Assessment: Students will be assesssed by using the following rubric.:
Flip Book
Tracking Chart
Total
Complete and
accurate
information
3
3
Incomplete or
inaccurate
information
2
2
A= 6 pts.
B= 5 pts.
C= 4 pts.
D= 3 pts.
F< 3 pts.
Missing
1
1
Missouri and Kansas Standards Addressed:
Kansas Science Standards:
Standard 4, Benchmark 3: The student observes, describes, and records daily and seasonal weather changes.
Missouri Science Standards:
Strand 5.2, Concept F. Constantly changing properties of the atmosphere occur in patterns which are
described as weather.