South Carolina ETV

South Carolina ETV
1101 George Rogers Boulevard
Columbia, SC 29201-4761
Phone: 803-737-3545

Countdown to Disaster (Grade 2-5)

Master Teacher

Ellen C. Holman

Time Allotment

60 minutes

Overview

On the night of September 21, 1989 residents watched helplessly as Hugo, a category 4 hurricane, approached the South Carolina coast. Meteorologists had been following the storm's path and knew of the potential disaster. Residents along the entire coast of South Carolina were ordered to evacuate. Some left and others refused to leave. No one could have imagined such destruction. Hugo slammed into the South Carolina coast packing winds of 135 miles per hour and created a tidal surge of several feet. The storm destroyed everything in its path. The winds were so strong that trees were uprooted and toppled over or snapped at their bases. The water damage was immense.

Weather safety is a concern in South Carolina. With the Atlantic Ocean on her right and the Gulf of Mexico one state away, severe weather is common and residents have learned to be prepared. The combina-tion of high temperatures and high humidity can be the perfect breeding ground for hurricanes.

South Carolina now includes weather safety in the required standards of Earth Science. Hopefully students, teachers, families and communities will be prepared when we have another.countdown to disaster. Incorporat-ing video and the Internet, this lesson gives students the tools to recognize a severe weather threat and what preparations need to be made to avoid a potential disaster.

Subject Matter

Earth Science

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to:

Recall facts about hurricanes;
Locate information about hurricane preparedness on the Red Cross Internet site;
Explain the difference between a hurricane warning and a hurricane watch;
Use humidity and temperature to make weather;
Describe what causes severe weather in the South during the summer.

South Carolina Standards

Visit Standards Web site

(These Standards are found at .)

Earth Science

Unit of Study:

II. Weather

A. Changes in the Earth and Sky

1. Weather changes from day to day and over the seasons.

2. Define components of weather, including temperature, wind, and precipitation (rain, sleet, snow, and hail).

a. Observe and identify weather conditions and patterns.

b. Create and use symbols to represent weather conditions.

c. Describe and sequence the seasons.

d. Identify safety precautions to use during severe weather conditions.

e. Weather can be described by measurable quantities, such as temperature, wind direction, and precipitation.

f. Measure and record temperature in both degrees Fahrenheit and Celsius.

g. Measure and record precipitation.

h. Investigate and describe changes in wind direction and the motion of objects due to the wind.

i. Make simple charts and graphs of observed weather data.

j. Identify the importance of measuring and recording weather data.

k. Compare drought and flood conditions.

l. Investigate and describe how weather affects water supply and water conservation.

Media Components

Video

Real Science!, Lesson 2: "Weathering the Storm."

Web Sites

Hurricanes - This site developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) introduces students to Herman the Spokescrab who links visitors to a variety of activities and games.

The Weather Maker - Students are in an interactive Web site that allows them to manipulate the humidity, the equatorial temperature and the polar temperatures. Students can create a variety of weather conditions such as blizzards, drizzling rain, or torrential rains.

This site requires Flash Player, which can be downloaded when the site is bookmarked.

American Red Cross (Hurricanes) - This disaster services site lists a variety of information about hurricanes. It explains the difference between a watch and a warning including what to do to prepare for such an emergency.

Games, Games, Games - This site is sponsored by FEMA and is a collection of different types of disaster related games.

Materials

Per student:

Introductory Activity Sheet
Culminating Activity Sheet
paper and pencil

Equipment

computer with Internet accessibility (per student)
VCR
TV

Prep for Teachers

Students should have some prior knowledge of severe weather.
Prior to teaching this lesson, gather all Materials.
Bookmark the Web sites used in the lesson on each computer in your classroom.
Prior to the lesson, check the equipment: VCR, TV, and computer.
Prior to the lesson, make a KWL chart on chart paper (K-What the students already know; W-What the students want to know; L-What the students learned after the lesson). Tape the chart paper on the board. Have markers nearby.
Preview the video to familiarize yourself with the pausing points. The video segment used in this lesson starts at the beginning of Episode 2, "Weathering the Storm." Cue the video to the opening credits of the episode. The two clips used in this lesson are separated by a few words. The second one comes immediately after the first, so listen carefully to the interview, follow along the lesson, and press PAUSE when indicated.
Make copies of the Introductory and Culminating Activity Sheets.
When using media, provide students with a Focus for Media Interaction, a specific task to complete and/or information to identify during or after viewing of video segments, Web sites, or other multimedia elements.

Introductory Activity

Step 1: Say: "Before we begin the lesson, I'd like to know what you know about hurricane safety and what you don't." Give each student an Introductory Activity Sheet and have each answer the best he or she can.

(Note to Teacher: You can read the questions to the students if necessary).

Students should write down what they think is the answer with one-, two- or three-word answers. Don't give any help with answers, only assistance with reading the questions. Tell them that if they don't know the answer, leave it blank. Assure them just because they don't know all the answers, they shouldn't be frustrated.

After most students are finished, call "time." Ask students to reflect on the questions. Explain that this activity, "Countdown to Disaster," is to identify ahead of time what specific preparations are necessary to be ready for a Hurricane Disaster. Remind students that only when we are prepared for a disaster can we be safe.

Have them put Introductory Activity Sheet to the side and tell them we will refer to it later in the lesson.

Step 2: Introduce the vocabulary words for the lesson.

A hurricane is a storm with winds in excess of 74 mph.
A forecast is a prediction of a future event.
Weather describes air conditions at certain times.
A meteorologist is a person who studies the weather.

Learning Activities

Step 1: Weather Introduction. Have students discuss what they know about weather. Brainstorm related words such as wind, precipitation, clouds, and storm. Complete the K part of the KWL chart. Discuss how weather impacts people's lives. Ask students what they KNOW about hurricanes. (Hurricanes have big waves. Hurricanes have lots of wind.) Ask students WHAT they'd like to learn about hurricanes. (Challenge students to recall personal experiences or recent newsworthy weather such as storms, floods, hurricanes, or tornadoes.)

Step 2: Ask students where they can find information about the weather?"(Television, radio, Internet, newspaper.) Have students suggest specific shows, or sites that they may be already familiar with to find good information on weather. Explain that a meteorologist is a person who studies the weather.

Step 3: Provide a Focus for Media Interaction by telling students they are going to watch a video clip about a meteorologist and they are to listen for how she starts each day.

Step 4: Push PLAY. The opening credits of the Real Science episode "Weathering the Storm" will begin. Music will play and you will see several moving pictures that move together to spell R-E-A-L S-C-I-E-N-C-E. The host of the show, Lydia Chinn, will introduce herself and tell about the day's episode. Lydia will join Janice Huff and say, "Hi, Janice." Follow the partial script below to know when to press PAUSE.

PLAY the tape until you hear Janice say, "The satellites pretty much stay in the same spot and take the same pictures. We can gather the pictures and show them one at a time through our computers so we can see what is happening with the weather and we can get a sense of how the weather is moving along and we can tell people." Press PAUSE.

Step 5: After the tape is paused, ask students questions to check for comprehension. What are some of the things Janice does to start each day? (She checks the wire sources and weather station satellites.) Where is the weather information gathered? (The information is gathered in Washington, D.C.) What tools do meteorologists use to get the weather information they need? (Meteorologists use computers, wire sources, and satellites.) Where are the satellites? (Satellites are in space 22,500 miles over the equator.) Do the satellites move around a lot? (No, they do not move around a lot. They pretty much stay in the same spot.) How do meteorologists use the satellite images? (The meteorologists gather the single images from the satellites and set them up in a loop cycle.) What is a loop cycle? (A loop cycle uses the same set of photos over and over again, giving movement to the weather.)

Step 6: Explain that it takes special training to be a meteorologist. They must learn how to use lots of tools to help them predict the weather. Meteorologists go to school to learn how to translate the information from a wide variety of weather sources and tools. Point out that a doctor has to go to medical school to learn to be a doctor and a lawyer goes to law school to learn to be a lawyer. Inform the students that meteorologists have to go to a special school, too. State that some people know early in their lives what they want as their career. Some don't decide on a career until they go to college or technical school after their high school graduation.

Step 7: Provide the students with a Focus for Media Interaction explaining that they will watch and listen as we continue the videotape for when Janice Huff knew she wanted to be a meteorologist, the specific afternoons she loved as a child, where that was, and what weather conditions caused the weather she loved. Also listen for what her first job was and some of her duties.

Step 8: Press PLAY on the VCR. It should be a continuation of the interview between Lydia Chinn and Janice Huff. You will see the same shot that has both of them in the picture, and you will hear Lydia say," Did you know you wanted to study weather as a child?" Continue playing the tape until you see a head and shoulders shot of Janice Huff on the left of the screen and you hear her say, "I worked with charts, computers, satellites, and briefed pilots." Lydia will say, "Wow!" Janice will respond, "Pilots had to be briefed by weather technologists or meteorologists to get the weather for their route." Press STOP.

Step 9: Question the students for comprehension. Ask the students when in her life Janice decided to be a meteorologist? (She became interested as a young person in weather and decided then that she wanted to go to school to learn to be a meteorologist.) Ask the students where Janice grew up. (She grew up in South Carolina.) Ask students what the weather was like in the summers. (The summer afternoons in South Carolina would begin as clear beautiful days but with the high humidity and the hot temperatures. In the late afternoons the sky would fill with dark clouds and thunderstorms would occur. Janice would sit with her grandfather on the porch and watch the sky change. It would be a clear sky in the morning. It would begin to get cloudy around eleven or twelve o'clock and by four or five o'clock the skies would be dark and thunderstorms would usually occur.)

Step 10: Help students make the connection that humidity and temperature together can make the difference between severe weather and nice days. If this lesson is done in the beginning of the school year during Hurricane Season the weather they see each day could be the combination for severe weather. If severe weather is currently happening, include specific humidity and temperature readings and allow the students to make predictions whether or not the current weather is right for a hurricane, thunderstorm, or other types of severe weather.

Step 11: Explain that students will get to try to make their own weather. Provide a Focus for Media Interaction explaining that they will be able to manipulate the humidity and the temperature at the poles and equator to create nice days and severe weather. Ask students to pay special attention to what combinations of temperature and humidity cause severe weather.

Step 12: Send students to the bookmarked site, The Weather Maker. Explain to the students that they can move three slider bars that control humidity and the temperatures at the North/South Poles and the Equator to make a variety of different kinds of weather. Allow students to create their own weather and try several combinations of humidity and temperature variations. Monitor the students' work. Move around the room and encourage students to read the narrative under the red house. Direct them to try all combinations of humidity and temperature. After 10 minutes, ask students to stop the on-line activity.

Step 13: To check for comprehension, ask students to recall what kinds of weather they made. (Possible answers are nice day, drizzle, high winds and torrential rain, light snow, blizzard.) Ask what kinds of weather they made by just by increasing and decreasing the humidity. (If they leave the temperature in the mid-range, changing just the humidity didn't affect the weather too badly. The days were nice and there wasn't any particular weather.) Ask what did you have to change to make it snow? (The humidity had to be high and the temperature had to be low.) Ask what combinations did you have to have to make the skies dark and the rain heavy? (In order to make it have severe weather, students had to create high temperatures and high humidity.)

Step 14: Explain that living in a state that has hot temperatures and high humidity, it is important to know what combinations make potential severe weather. Tell students that hurricane season is between June and November. Have students refer to the Introductory Activity. Ask for a show of hands of those students who knew every answer. Have students respond if they knew some of the answers. Ask how many knew only a few answers. Guide the discussion to the understanding that most of us don't know as much as we need to about hurricane safety. Explain that it is very important to pay attention to severe weather during hurricane season. Ask students if any have experienced hurricane. Ask students what kinds of things happened during the hurricane. Allow students to think of sounds they heard, feelings they had, and what they did during the hurricane. Perhaps some will have evacuated. Others may have stayed. If possible, use their experiences to help teach the lesson.

Step 15: Ask the students where information about hurricanes can be found. Guide the conversation to include television stations, radio stations, Internet sites and newspapers.

Explain that knowing a hurricane is coming can safe your life. Explain that people have died during hurricanes. High winds can do a lot of damage.

Step 16: Since we live in a state subject to hurricanes, ask students what can we do to be prepared for such a disaster. Provide a Focus for Media Interaction by having students log on to the bookmarked site American Red Cross (Hurricanes) to see what the difference between a hurricane watch and a hurricane warning is, and what kinds of things the Red Cross recommends be done to be prepared. The students will log onto the previously bookmarked site and use the information to answer questions.

Step 17: Ask students to explain the difference between a hurricane watch and a hurricane warning. (If hurricane conditions are possible within 36 hours a WATCH is declared. If hurricane conditions are expected within 24 hours, a WARNING is announced.) Which comes first? (A hurricane watch comes first.) When the watch is announced for your area what kinds of things should you do? (Listen to NOAA Weather Radio or local radio or TV stations for up-to-date storm information. Prepare to bring inside any lawn furniture, outdoor decorations or ornaments, trashcans, hanging plants, and anything else that can be picked up by the wind. Prepare to cover all windows of your home. If shutters have not been installed, use plywood to cover the windows of your home. Remember, tape does not prevent windows from breaking, so taping windows is not recommended. Fill your car's gas tank. Recheck trailer home tie-downs. Check batteries and stock up on canned food, first aid supplies, drinking water, and medications.)

Step 18: Ask students what needs to be done if a hurricane warning is announced for the area in which you live. (Listen to the advice of local officials, and leave if they tell you to do so. Complete preparation activities. If you are not advised to evacuate, stay indoors, away from windows. Be aware that the calm "eye" is deceptive; the storm is not over. The worst part of the storm will happen once the eye passes over and the winds blow from the opposite direction. Trees, shrubs, buildings, and other objects damaged by the first winds can be broken or destroyed by the second winds. Be alert for tornadoes. Tornadoes can happen during a hurricane and after it passes over. Remain indoors, in the center of your home, in a closet or bathroom without windows. Stay away from floodwaters. If you come upon a flooded road, turn around and go another way. If you are caught on a flooded road and waters are rising rapidly around you, get out of the car and climb to higher ground.)

Culminating Activity

Step 1: Weather can be difficult to predict. Conditions can change quickly and become severe with little warning. Have students refer back to the Introductory Activity. Ask how many students knew less than 10 of the answers. Remind students that the purpose of the lesson is to increase our knowledge of hurricane safety. Guide the questioning and answering to the conclusion that knowing the answers to these questions, or knowing where to find the answers, can help them be prepared. Say: "We want all families to be prepared in case they experience a Countdown to Disaster."

Step 2: Hand out the Culminating Activity Sheet and have students answer the questions again. Allow students time to complete this task.

Step 3: Ask students to share the results at the bottom of the Culminating Activity Sheet. Have students compare the first results with the second. The number of correct answers should increase.

Step 4: Finish the KWL chart with a few facts the students learned in this activity. Step 5: To explore the world of disasters further, ask students to log on to Hurricanes and meet Herman the Spokescrab for FEMA. He can introduce students to a variety of interactive games that will enhance their knowledge of severe weather. Suggest they play the "Tsunami Game," "Hurricane House," "Water, Wind, and Earth," "Disaster Maze," or read with "The Disaster Twins."

Assessment

The Culminating Activity will serve as the Assessment.

Cross-Curricular Extensions

Mathematics: Students will predict the amount of rain in a month, compare the predicted amount with the actual amount, and graph their results in bar and picto-graphs. Students can compare the amounts of damage that is done by different storms.

Technology/Social Studies: Research the effects of Hurricane Hugo on the people and areas that were so destroyed. How did Hurricane Hugo change the look of the coast? How long did it take to rebuild? What can residents do to be prepared for another devastating storm?

Science: What habitats were destroyed by Hurricane Hugo? How long did it take for the eco-system to rebuild? Were any species completely wiped out?

Language Arts: Write diary entries for a person in the path of a storm. Describe the challenges they faced. How did they feel?

Write about the objects that you would take if you had 5 minutes to gather all your belongings.

Community Connections

Visit the Charleston Museum and investigate the pictures and read the collected thoughts of Hurricane Hugo's victims. Where did they live while they rebuilt their homes?
Have a TV meteorologist come in and discuss the actual storm with printouts of data and actual pictures of the storm.