Unit 5  Stormchasers

What do you think?

1 Answer the questions.
1 Write down all the different types of weather you can think of. What is your favourite and least favourite type of
weather? Why?




2 Match the weather words to the descriptions.
1 hailstone a very bad weather with strong wind and rain
2 tornado b a very strong wind that moves in a circle
3 storm c a small ball of ice that falls like rain

Comprehension check
2  Watch the video. Choose the correct answers.
1 The stormchasers are following … .
a  a thunderstorm
b  a tornado
c  a hailstorm
2 While they drive past, … .
a  they change their minds and drive away
b  hailstones fall on the car
c  they call the local radio station
3 The stormchasers … .
a  really enjoy their job
b  are very frightened
c  usually work in an office

3  Watch the video again. Correct the factual errors in the sentences.
1 The small hailstones are the size of baseballs.

2 Following tornados is exciting but also intense.

3 The stormchasers are running across Oklahoma, trying to get a better look at a big tornado.

4 It’s difficult to drive when it’s so sunny and rainy.

5 It’s time to turn back when the wind starts to follow the car.

6 When they have amazing stories of the storm, they go home.

4  Complete the summary. Write one word in each gap.

Reed Timmer and his stormchasers 1 storms to get the best images. They 2 out
3
exactly how big and how storms are. They drive close to violent 4 and take pictures.
They have 5 lots of big tornados. The stormchasers say, ‘every day keeps getting 6 !’

React
5 Work in pairs. Answer the questions.
1 Would you like to be a stormchaser? Why / why not?
2 Have you ever been out in a storm? Where were you? What happened?
3 What is the most dangerous weather you have experienced?

INSIGHT 2e Pre-Intermediate    Unit 5 video worksheet photocopiable © Oxford University Press

 Vocabulary
6 Match the words to the definitions.
1 huge a something that makes you scared
2 exciting b something that hurts with physical force
3 frightening c surprising in a way that you like or admire
4 dangerous d pulled apart
5 violent e very dramatic and interesting
6 amazing f something that is not safe
7 ripped g very big
8 wrapped h covered in something

7 Choose the best word from the video to complete the sentences.
1 Keep going straight till / for you reach the end of the street.
2 The stormchasers saw a big storm because / while they were driving.
3 They shut / opened their windows when they were close to the storm.
4 You should keep the windscreen washers / wipers going in a storm.
5 Reed decided to carry on driving past / through the tornado and find out what was on the other side.
6 The roof / hood of your car covers the engine.

Task
8 Work in small groups. You are going to write or record a blog about ‘wild weather’.
1 In your group, think about all the different types of weather you have been in, e.g. rainstorms, thunderstorms,
snow, hail, wind, very hot weather, etc. Think of a time you experienced extreme weather.
2 In your group, make a list of questions you could ask someone about their experience, e.g. Where were you?
When did it happen? What was it like? In your groups, ask and answer the questions together.
3 As a group, choose the weather experience you find most interesting. Write a blog post to describe the wild
weather. Include the answers to the questions from step 2. You can either write this down or record it as an
interview on your smartphone.
4 Present your blog to the rest of the class (or let them listen to your recording).
5 Have a class vote to see which wild weather blog was the best.

Useful expressions: Wild weather experience

I’m going to tell you about a time I (was in a storm / saw a
tornado / experienced extreme heat).
I was in … with (my friends / my family / the dog).
I was in … and there was nobody else around.
The weather was so (amazing / exciting) because …
It was very (dangerous / frightening) because …
The (rain / wind / snow / hail / lightning / heat) was like …

INSIGHT 2e Pre-Intermediate    Unit 5 video worksheet photocopiable © Oxford University Press

Unit 5 Teacher’s notes  Stormchasers

Video summary
The video is about a group that chase storms and extreme weather to get photos of it. In this video, Reed
Timmer and his group follow a violent tornado in Oklahoma. They phone a weather station as they drive past
the tornado.

Background culture notes

Tornados are violent swirls of wind that form on land. (They are called hurricanes when they form at sea.)
Tornados most famously occur in North America in an area known as ‘Tornado Alley’, but they are also common
in Southern Africa, parts of Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Bangladesh, India and South America. Ordinarily,
they have speeds of around 180 kilometres per hour and can be up to 80 metres across. They move for several
miles, then fade. Some of the most violent tornados can reach speeds of 480 kilometres per hour and can be
3 kilometres wide. These extreme tornados can travel up to 100 kilometres!
Tornados can cause widespread destruction to cities and the environment. In the USA alone, tornados are
responsible for 80 deaths and 1,500 injuries per year.

Answer key
1 1 Students’ own answers.
2  1 c   2 b   3 a
2 1 b   2 c   3 a
3 1 The huge hailstones are the size of baseballs.
2  Following tornados is exciting but also dangerous.
3  The stromchasers are driving across Oklahoma, trying to get a better look at a big tornado.
4  It’s difficult to drive when it’s so windy and rainy.
5  It’s time to turn back when the wind starts to break the car.
6  When they have amazing shots/images/pictures of the storm, they go home.
4 Suggested answers:
1 follow
2 find/work
3 dangerous
4 tornados
5 seen/filmed/followed
6 better
5 Students’ own answers.
6 1 g   2 e   3 a   4 f   5 b   6 c   7 d   8 h
7 1 till   2 while   3 shut   4 wipers   5 past   6 hood

Task
Stage 1: Preparation
• Ask: What type of weather did you experience? Elicit examples and write these weather types on the board. Ask:
What was it like? Make sure students understand the question and focus on what it looked and felt like. Elicit
some examples.
• Tell students they are going to write or record a blog about wild weather. Make sure students know what a blog
is (a website that contains personal thoughts and opinions).
• You can ask students to write about their wild weather experiences, or you could ask students to record
themselves on their smartphone. If possible, you could share these on social media or your class web page.
Stage 2: Procedure
• Divide students into small groups of three or four. Ask them to move their desks together, if possible.
• Ask students individually to spend a few minutes making notes about a time they were in any wild weather such
as a big snowstorm or rainstorm. Students could use their smartphones to help with any research and the ideas
they shared with their partner in exercise 5. Circulate and monitor as students work.
• Now ask students to share their ideas with the rest of their group. Together, students should decide which
experience is the most interesting to share with the rest of the class and as a blog post.

INSIGHT 2e Pre-Intermediate    Unit 5 teacher’s notes photocopiable © Oxford University Press

 • When students have chosen their experience, ask them as a group to write questions to ask about it, e.g. Where
were you? When did it happen? What was it like? Circulate and monitor as students work. They should come up
with a list of questions they can ask the student who had the wild weather experience.
• Students should practise asking and answering the questions with the member of the group who had the
experience. Each student should ask one of the questions.
• Have groups write a blog post about their experience. They can either write this down as a series of questions
and answers (including pictures) or they could record it on a smartphone, laptop, computer or other recording
device.
• Ask students to share their blog post or recording with the rest of the class. You could ask students to present
and read (or play) their blog, or you could stick the blogs on the wall and have students circulate and read.
• Have a class vote on which experience was the most interesting.
Extra ideas
• For an easier task, you can give or dictate a list of questions to ask the student with the wild weather experience,
e.g.:
What type of weather was it?
Where were you?
Who were you with?
What time of day was it?
Were you in a car, on foot or on a bike?
How did you feel?
What happened?
Did you enjoy the experience?
• For a more challenging task, you can ask students to individually write a blog post of 100 words with an
introduction, body and conclusion detailing their own wild weather experience. It doesn’t have to be true.
Students can use the internet to research their ideas and use pictures to make their blogs look more exciting. Put
the blogs on the wall of your classroom to aid motivation.

INSIGHT 2e Pre-Intermediate    Unit 5 teacher’s notes photocopiable © Oxford University Press

Unit 5 Video script  Stormchasers
Narrator Reed Timmer and his team of storm chasers are after a big tornado.
Dick Oh, watch out!
Reed Baseballs! See the baseball?
Narrator They have come across huge hailstones the size of baseballs on the ground, and can see the tornado in
the distance. It’s exciting, but it’s also frightening.
Reed Get in Seth, get in!
Narrator As storm chasers, they follow the storm to get the best images, and find out exactly how big and how
dangerous the storm is.
Reed Wow. Keep the wipers going.
Narrator Today, they are driving across Oklahoma, trying to get a better look at one of the largest tornadoes they
have ever seen. And they’ve seen lots of them.
Reed Take a left here!
Sean Left?
Reed Yes.
Sean OK.
Reed Left. Shut your windows!
Sean Shut the window!
Narrator It’s really difficult to drive when it’s so windy and it’s raining like this. But Reed is an expert.
Reed Keep going straight for a long way.
Sean Going south-east, we go right past it then?
Reed Yeah.
Sean OK.
Narrator Reed has decided to carry on driving past the tornado and find out what’s on the other side. While they
drive past, he calls the local television weather channel and uses his phone to live stream what he can
see.
Reed There’s the left side, there’s the right side. It’s a violent tornado back there and this thing is getting
stronger, getting bigger, getting wrapped in rain. This is big, this is a very violent tornado. Everybody OK?
Wow, alright, we just ripped the hood off.
Narrator When the wind starts to break the car, it’s time to turn back.
Sean Let’s get out of here.
Narrator But they have some amazing shots of the storm. Now it’s time to go home.
Reed Another intense night, eh?
Sean Yeah.
Reed That was one of the most amazing tornadoes I’ve ever seen.
Sean Yeah, amazing. Every day it keeps getting better.
Reed Another day at the office. Never stop chasing.
Sean Never stop chasing.

INSIGHT 2e Pre-Intermediate    Unit 5 video script photocopiable © Oxford University Press