Hurricanes and Tornadoes

Hurricanes and Tornadoes

Introduction
On a typical day, gentle breezes blow across our land, bringing in cool air. But not all winds are calm. Sometimes powerful storms move in bringing strong and damaging currents of air. Storms known as hurricanes and tornadoes can display such extreme force that enormous destruction can result from the path of the storm.

Task
Congratulations! You have been asked to join the National Weather Service (NWS) as a stormtracker intern. During your tenure with NWS your job is to gain as much knowledge as possible about hurricanes or tornadoes, depending upon the type of storm you wish to research and track. Upon completion of your studies, you will be asked to share your data with your colleagues.

Process
1. Select either hurricanes or tornadoes to research.

2. If you have chosen hurricanes, click on the hurricane research page to begin your note taking. If you have chosen tornadoes, click on the tornado research page to begin your note taking. You will use the resource sites listed below as well as other materials to answer questions about hurricanes or tornadoes.

Hurricane Research Page Tornado Research Page

3. Using the notes from your research page, write at least a one page paper about your findings. Write down the resources that you used on your Works Cited sheet.

4. As a final activity of your internship, create a project to demonstrate what you have learned. Choose from the following list:

Create a poster, model, or mobile.

Create a dance or a skit.

Create a story, poem, or a song.

Create a game.

Resources
There are many books and periodicals located in your school library on hurricanes and tornadoes that will help you with your research.

To supplement your research there are websites also. Go to the websites listed below to help you find more information.

http://www.fema.gov/kids/hurr.htm (hurricane)

http://www.field-trips.org/sci/hurricane/index.htm (hurricane)

http://205.156.54.206/om/reachout/hurricane.shtml (hurricane)

http://skydiary.com/kids/hurricanes.html (hurricane)

http://www.miamisci.org/hurricane/hurricane0.html (hurricane)

http://whyfiles.org/013tornado/index.html (tornado)