Hurricanes and Typhoons: Lesson Plans and Classroom Activities

Use these activities and Internet connections to engage students of all ages in a study of these powerful and
frightening storms, which are called hurricanes, typhoons or cyclones depending on where they happen in the

world.

Typhoon Haiyan, which struck six central Philippine islands on Nov. 8, 2013, was one of the strongest storms on record. It
also appears to be the deadliest natural disaster ever to hit the island nation. A list of ways to help can be found here.

Looking to explore the science behind these dangerous storms? Below are lesson and activity ideas related to
hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones:

You and your students can follow this year's hurricane activity. On the Internet, you'll be deluged with hurricane-related
sites; I've highlighted a few below in the Tracking Hurricanes on the Internet section. Immediately following is a handful of
activities that you might include in a hurricane lesson plan or that you might use to supplement a current-events discussion
of "hurricane season."

ABC Order. Each year, hurricane names are assigned in alphabetical order. The list of names is recycled every six years.
Find more information about the names of hurricanes and other storms on this Geology.com page. Try listing the names out
of sequence and inviting students to put the list in alphabetical order. (For younger students, you might narrow the list to the
first ten [A-J] named hurricanes of the season.)

Read aloud. Hurricanes: Earth's Mightiest Storms by Patricia Lauber (Scholastic). Not just another book about "big
weather," this is an amazing work that uses narrative very effectively in weaving the story of these powerful storms. Clearly
written and relevant text is combined with impressive photographs and informative maps and illustrations that further
enhance this excellent work. (Recommendation source: Science and Children, March 1997.)

Hands-On Science. Static electricity is stored in rain clouds. When a cloud is so full of static electricity that there's no room
for any more, a spark might leap from the cloud. That spark is called "lightning"! Your students can demonstrate the effects
of static electricity. Invite them to try the following simple experiment. (Note: This experiment works best when the weather
is dry.)

 Tear up a sheet of paper into tiny little pieces.

 Invite students to use a comb to comb their hair. Or rub the comb on a piece of wool or fur.
 Then hold the comb over the tiny paper pieces.
 What happens? Why does it happen?

Research. Invite students to learn more about hurricanes. Pose the following questions and see who is the first to come up
with the correct answers to all the questions. (You might use this activity as a cooperative group activity.)

. What's the difference between a hurricane, a cyclone, and a typhoon? (They are all the same kind of storm but hurricanes
develop in the Atlantic Ocean, cyclones develop in the Indian Ocean, and typhoons develop in the China Sea.)
. What is the origin of the word "hurricane"? (The word "hurricane" came from the Mayan culture of Central America. The
Mayans called their storm god "Hunraken.")

Critical thinking:

. What do you notice about the names of hurricanes? (Use the list that students created in the ABC Order activity above.)
. What special sequence do you see in those names? (The names alternate between male and female names.)

Science: The Water Cycle. Discuss and draw a simple illustration on a board or chart to demonstrate to students the steps
of the water cycle: (1.) Energy from the sun changes water to water vapor. (2.) Water vapor rises. It cools and condenses to
form clouds. (3.) Winds blow the clouds over land. (4.) Clouds meet cool air, and rain or snow falls to the ground. (5.) Most
of the water returns to large lakes and oceans. Next, invite students to demonstrate the water cycle:

1. Fill a large, glass bottle or jar half full of water.

2. Cover the jar with plastic wrap and secure the plastic wrap in place with an elastic.
3. Place the jar in a sunny window.
 4. Observe for a few hours. What happens? Why did it happen? (Water drops form on the underside of the plastic
wrap. Energy from the sun turned the water into water vapor (evaporation) which caused water drops to form
(condensation) on the plastic wrap.)

Invite students to compare what happened in the jar to the way the water cycle works? Talk about ways they might speed
up the process of evaporation and condensation? How would that compare to a hurricane?

Graphing. Invite students to create bar graphs using weather data.

For younger students: More hurricanes strike in September than in any other month. Usinghistorical data, make a bar graph
to show how many hurricanes have struck each month in recent years.

For older students: The number of deaths caused by hurricanes has dropped dramatically since the turn of the century.
Invite students to use historical data to draw a bar graph that will show this trend.

Art. Invite students to create a cartoon to illustrate the following joke:

Why don't weather forecasters tell each other jokes?

(Answer: They don't want to laugh up a storm!)

Geography. Follow the course the next hurricane of the season takes. Invite students to track the hurricane for themselves
on their own copies of a U.S. map. They should label cities/towns that are along the hurricane's path and the date and time
when the hurricane hit those locations.

Article by Gary Hopkins

Education World®
Copyright © Education World

Related Resources
TRACKING HURRICANES ON THE INTERNET

You might appoint a "hurricane tracking team" or you might assign individual students or small groups to track some of the
following sites for hurricane information.

Hurricane: Storm Science

Learn how storms happen, all about tracking storms, how to make a weather station, and more on this site from
(appropriately) the Miami Museum of Science.

Natural Disasters Around the World

Another feature of the site created for the Miami Museum of Science.

CNN's Weather Story Page

Check out CNN's weather page for the latest forecasts, weather maps, allergy reports, and news from the storm center.

USA Today's Weather

Click on the yellow WEATHER button in the masthead of USA Today's main page for today's temperature map, top weather
news, and lots more.

The Weather Channel's weather.com

This site includes weather headlines and a search engine that allows you to check weather for a particular city or state.
Maps, safety tips, and much more.

National Hurricane Center Tropical Prediction Center

A good place to go for current advisories, reviews of previous years' hurricanes, and historical storm data (e.g., deadliest,
most expensive, most intense storms).