Stormy Weather - A Lesson Plan About Storms
This lesson contains affiliate links to products I have used and personally recommend. At no cost to you, I make a commission for purchases made through the links or advertisements. These commissions help to pay for the costs of the site and enable it to remain free for anyone who wants to use it.
Objectives:
-
The students will learn about storms/severe weather.
-
The students will be able to define and explain what causes a: hurricane, tornado, tropical storm, typhoon, tsunami, and blizzard.
-
The students will learn about notable storms in history.
Questions that encompasses the objective:
-
Think about a recent storm (can be any type of storm- rain storm, thunderstorm, snowstorm, etc.).
-
What did you do to prepare for the storm?
-
What happened once the storm was over?
-
Were there any damages?
Prepare the Learner: Activating Prior Knowledge.
How will students prior knowledge be activated?
Warm up by asking students:
-
What do you know about storms?
Common Core State Standards:
-
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.2.1
-
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.2.1 B
-
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.2.4
-
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.2
-
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.2
-
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.2 B
-
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.3.1
-
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.3.4
Materials and Free Resources to Download for this Lesson:
-
Introductory Activity: “What Would You Do?”
-
YouTube Video: “Southern Indiana Tornado” by predatorylizard
-
Worksheet: “What Would You Do?”
-
-
“All About Weather” Science Journal (Student Copy & Teacher Copy)
-
Pages 32-33: Severe Weather
-
Page 34: Categorizing Hurricanes: The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale
-
Page 35: Categorizing Tornados: The Fujita Tornado Intensity Scale
-
Pages 36-37: Historical Storms
-
-
Activity: “Storms of History”
-
Computers or Encyclopedias/Books/Information Sheets
-
**Students need to have access to information sources. If computers are available for use, allow the students to look up information on the computer. If not, allow the students to use encyclopedias or other books. Prior to the start of the lesson, the teacher could have the students choose a historical storm from a list. The teacher could then provide information sheets about the student’s chosen storm**
-
Poster Board
-
Construction Paper
-
Scissors/Glue
-
Crayons/Markers/Colored Pencils
Unit Resources:
Input:
What is the most important content in this lesson?
To reach this lesson’s objective, students need to understand:
-
The definition and cause of a: hurricane, tornado, tropical storm, typhoon, tsunami, and blizzard
How will the learning of this content be facilitated?
-
The teacher should begin class by showing the YouTube Video: “Southern Indiana Tornado” by predatorylizard. The video is about two minutes long and shows a tornado. After the video is over, the teacher should hand out the “What Would You Do?” worksheet. The teacher should allow the students about 5 minutes to write what they would do to prepare for a storm (i.e., what they need to buy, how to take shelter, what needs to be done after a storm). After the students have finished, begin a discussion about some of the responses. Transition into the topic of stormy weather/severe weather by explaining that not all storms are the same. Some storms involve rain and wind, while others involve snow and/or ice. The teacher should explain that the video the students watched showed a tornado.
-
After the activity discussion is done, the teacher will begin presenting the information on weather. If it is possible, project each page of the teacher’s copy of the “All About Weather” Science Journal worksheet onto the board using a projector or put into a PowerPoint document and project. The teacher’s copy of the journal has certain words/phrases that are bolded red and highlighted. It is important the teacher explain to the students those words/phrases are to be highlighted in their (students) journal. For this lesson, the teacher should review these pages:
-
Pages 32-33: Severe Weather
-
** These page review the different types of severe weather and what causes each**
-
Page 34: Categorizing Hurricanes: The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale
-
**This page reviews the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale and the characteristics of each category**
-
Page 35: Categorizing Tornados: The Fujita Tornado Intensity Scale
-
**This page reviews the Fujita Tornado Intensity Scale and the characteristics of each category/group**
-
Pages 36-37: Historical Storms
-
**These pages review some of history’s most notable/memorable storms**
-
-
After the information has been presented, the students will participate in the activity “Storms of History”. The teacher should instruct the students to break into groups of two or three. Each group will choose a type of storm (i.e., hurricane, tornado, tropical storm, typhoon, tsunami, and blizzard). Each group will be given a “Notable Storm” information worksheet. As a group, the students will research a notable storm associated with the type of storm they chose (i.e., if the group chose “hurricane” they can research the storm “Hurricane Andrew- 1992”. (Information on how to research the storm is provided in the “Materials” section). The teacher should instruct the students to complete the “Notable Storm” information worksheet first. Once the worksheet is completed, the students will create a poster board explaining the information about their storm. The teacher should allow the students about 20 minutes to research their storm, gather information, and create their poster board. Once all the groups have finished their poster, the groups should begin presenting.
-
For the closure, when the presentations are over, meet again as a whole group and have the students share what they learned from the other groups’ presentations.
Time/Application
3-5 minutes
Guided Introduction
Review the class/ agenda with the students:
-
Introductory Activity: “What Would You Do?”
-
Discussion: Science Journal (Pages 32-37)
-
Activity: “Storms of History”
10 minutes
Introductory Activity: “What Would You Do?”
-
Show the students the YouTube Video: “Southern Indiana Tornado” by predatorylizard.
-
Hand out the worksheet “What Would You Do?”
-
Instruct the students to complete the worksheet.
-
Discuss some of the responses once the students have finished.
15 Minutes
Severe Weather | Categorizing Hurricanes | Categorizing Tornados | Historical Storms
-
Instruct the students to open to page 32 in their science journals.
-
Project each page of the science journal onto the board either through a projector or PowerPoint presentation.
-
The teacher copy has bolded red and highlighted words. The students will highlight those words in their science journal.
-
Begin presenting the information. The pages that will be presented include: pages 32-37.
25 Minutes
Activity: “Storms of History”
-
Instruct the students to break into groups of two or three.
-
Give each group a “Notable Storm” worksheet.
-
Instruct the groups to choose a type of storm and then a notable storm associated with their choice type.
-
Instruct the students to fill out the worksheet. Once the worksheet has been completed, instruct the students to create a poster depicting the information they found about their storm.
-
Once all the groups are finished, begin presentations.
10 minutes
Closure
-
For the closure, when the presentations are over, meet again as a whole group and have the students share what they learned from the other groups’ presentations.
Individualized Instruction/Scaffolding
English Language Learners will be supported in this lesson through data-based heterogeneous grouping, verbal and written repetition of new vocabulary words, and multiple representation of vocabulary words through printed images and video.