Lesson Plan-The Eye of the Hurricane (grade level 3-5)
Overview:
This lesson introduces students to the structure of a hurricane, particularly the eye. You might want to use it as an introduction to a unit on hurricanes or weather phenomena. Students will view a video about hurricanes, do a simple hurricane simulation, take a tour into the eye of a hurricane, and write reports about their tour.
Connections to the Curriculum:
Geography, earth science
Connections to the National Geography Standards:
Standard 7: “The physical processes that shape the patterns of Earth’s surface”
Time:
One to two hours
Materials Required:
* Computer with Internet access
* Large round bowl or tub of water (one for each pair of students)
* Spoon (one for each pair of students)
* Food coloring with a dropper top
* Writing materials
Objectives:
Students will
* watch an online movie about hurricanes and discuss what they learn about the eye;
* identify the eye in hurricane photographs;
* simulate a hurricane using food coloring and water, and describe what they see;
* take an online tour with hurricane hunters who fly into hurricanes to study them; and
* pretend they have just returned from a trip with the hurricane hunters, and write reports describing their experiences.
Geographic Skills:
Acquiring Geographic Information
Organizing Geographic Information
Answering Geographic Questions
Analyzing Geographic Information
S u g g e s t e d P r o c e d u r e
Opening:
Have students watch the BrainPop movie about hurricanes. Ask them to pay particular attention to the discussion of the hurricane’s eye. [Note: Without a paid subscription, you can only view a BrainPop movie twice in the same day.]
Discuss what the eye of the hurricane is. Is it windy in the eye? Why does the eye exist?
Development:
Have students look at these pictures of hurricanes, and ask them to identify the eye in each one.
Have students do this Try This: Stir Up A Hurricane activity. After they have made their own “hurricanes,” ask them to answer these questions in writing:
* Could you see the hurricane’s eye? If so, what was the “wind” like in the eye?
* What happened to the hurricane’s “clouds” as the liquid spiraled around in the bowl? Describe the way they moved.
Discuss students’ answers to the above questions.
Tell the class that in order to learn how fast a hurricane is growing and how fast its winds are blowing, it’s necessary to go directly into the hurricane. Some brave volunteer pilots called “hurricane hunters” do this job in airplanes.
Have students go through the “Cyberflight”. They will see pictures and read about a team of hurricane hunters on a mission to study Hurricane Opal in 1995. They should understand that the eyewall is the border between the eye and the surrounding storm winds and the dropsonde is an instrument that takes measurements of the hurricane from the eye. They hurricane hunters drop the dropsonde out of the airplane, and it lands in the ocean.
Students can also look at the pictures at the Hurricane Hunter’s Photo Album.
Closing:
After students have finished the “Cyberflight,” discuss as a class what it was like for these pilots before they entered the eye and once they were inside it.
Suggested Student Assessment:
Ask students to imagine that they have just returned from a flight on a hurricane hunter mission. They have flown with an expert team of hurricane hunters and have helped them conduct their studies in the eye of a hurricane.
Ask students to write brief (two or three paragraph) reports to their local newspaper telling the public about their adventure. Their reports should answer these questions: What is it like inside the eye? Why does the eye exist? What was the most exciting part of your journey?
Extending the Lesson:
Have students research and report on hurricane risk and safety. They should try to find out the answers to these questions:
* Could a hurricane hit land near where you live? If so, when was the last time this happened? What damage did the hurricane do?
* What parts of the country and world are at the greatest risk for hurricanes?
* What should you do if a hurricane is headed your way?
references:
nationalgeographic.com
