What Could A Hurricane Do To My Home?

Jump to this Activity »

What Could A Hurricane Do To My Home?
http://strategies.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/HurricaneModule_FinUpdateSept08.pdf

Institute for Global Environmental Strategies

This activity examines the impacts of hurricanes and storm surges on coastal communities.

This activity takes about 1-2 45-minute lesson periods.

Learn more about Teaching Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness»

See how this Activity supports the Next Generation Science Standards»

hide

Middle School

Performance Expectations: 1

MS-ESS3-2: Analyze and interpret data on natural hazards to forecast future catastrophic events and inform the development of technologies to mitigate their effects.

Disciplinary Core Ideas: 4

MS-ESS2.D1: Weather and climate are influenced by interactions involving sunlight, the ocean, the atmosphere, ice, landforms, and living things. These interactions vary with latitude, altitude, and local and regional geography, all of which can affect oceanic and atmospheric flow patterns.

MS-ESS2.D3: The ocean exerts a major influence on weather and climate by absorbing energy from the sun, releasing it over time, and globally redistributing it through ocean currents.

MS-ESS3.B1: Mapping the history of natural hazards in a region, combined with an understanding of related geologic forces can help forecast the locations and likelihoods of future events.

MS-ESS3.D1: Human activities, such as the release of greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels, are major factors in the current rise in Earth’s mean surface temperature (global warming). Reducing the level of climate change and reducing human vulnerability to whatever climate changes do occur depend on the understanding of climate science, engineering capabilities, and other kinds of knowledge, such as understanding of human behavior and on applying that knowledge wisely in decisions and activities.

Cross Cutting Concepts: 6

Energy and Matter, Stability and Change, Patterns, Cause and effect

See Details »

Energy and Matter, Stability and Change, Patterns, Cause and effect

MS-C1.2: Patterns in rates of change and other numerical relationships can provide information about natural and human designed systems

MS-C1.4: Graphs, charts, and images can be used to identify patterns in data.

MS-C2.1: Relationships can be classified as causal or correlational, and correlation does not necessarily imply causation.

MS-C5.4: The transfer of energy can be tracked as energy flows through a designed or natural system.

MS-C7.1: Explanations of stability and change in natural or designed systems can be constructed by examining the changes over time and forces at different scales, including the atomic scale.

MS-C7.3: Stability might be disturbed either by sudden events or gradual changes that accumulate over time.

Science and Engineering Practices: 8

Planning and Carrying Out Investigations, Analyzing and Interpreting Data, Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions, Engaging in Argument from Evidence, Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information, Asking Questions and Defining Problems

See Details »

MS-P1.5: Ask questions that require sufficient and appropriate empirical evidence to answer.

MS-P3.2: Conduct an investigation and/or evaluate and/or revise the experimental design to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence that meet the goals of the investigation

MS-P4.1: Construct, analyze, and/or interpret graphical displays of data and/or large data sets to identify linear and nonlinear relationships.

MS-P4.2: Use graphical displays (e.g., maps, charts, graphs, and/or tables) of large data sets to identify temporal and spatial relationships.

MS-P4.3: Distinguish between causal and correlational relationships in data.

MS-P6.1: Construct an explanation that includes qualitative or quantitative relationships between variables that predict(s) and/or describe(s) phenomena.

MS-P7.2: Respectfully provide and receive critiques about one’s explanations, procedures, models, and questions by citing relevant evidence and posing and responding to questions that elicit pertinent elaboration and detail.

MS-P8.5: Communicate scientific and/or technical information (e.g. about a proposed object, tool, process, system) in writing and/or through oral presentations.

Grade Level

Middle (6-8)
Find more resources at this grade level.

Topics

Hurricanes and Storms
Find more resources on this topic.

Human Responses to Climate
Find more resources on this topic.

Climate Literacy

This Activity builds on the following concepts of Climate Literacy.

Click a topic below for supporting information, teaching ideas, and sample activities.

Climate change has consequences

Energy Literacy

This Activity builds on the following concepts of Energy Literacy.

Click a topic below for supporting information, teaching ideas, and sample activities.

Physical processes on Earth are the result of energy flow

Notes From Our Reviewers The CLEAN collection is hand-picked and rigorously reviewed for scientific accuracy and classroom effectiveness. Read what our review team had to say about this resource below or learn more about how CLEAN reviews teaching materials
Teaching Tips | Science | Pedagogy | Technical Details

Teaching Tips

Resource is written for an audience that lives in coastal areas. Educators of students who don't live in coastal areas will have to alter the language of the questions.
Prior to this activity make sure that the students are familiar with the concept of contour lines. (see the link to "What do maps show?" on page 5)
Educator might need to provide more explicit instruction about how to plot the data on the map, especially with respect to low and high tide.
Instructor should consider following up lesson with the discussion of ways society can take steps to protect coastal communities from extreme weather effects, and how to adjust land planning to minimize impacts.
Extension activity: have students research how coastal communities are adopting to increases in extreme weather events.
Extension with this activity that emphasizes climate connections to hurricanes that uses real data: http://www.windows2universe.org/teacher_resources/hurricane_climate/teach_hurricane_climate.html

About the Content

Concepts that are presented are valid, however the activity is very cautious in linking hurricane activity to global warming. While the link is still presented as tenuous, science suggests that global climate change will increase the intensity of hurricane activity.
The IPCC 4th report Summary for Policymakers indicates the link between hurricane activity and climate change and can be used as a background material.
Links to a number of good background materials and supporting educational materials are given. It is unclear if the increase of 15 feet in the storm surge is a realistic number. No reference are given for this. It might be worthwhile using different scenarios.

About the Pedagogy

Activity is well organized, with a teacher's guide, assessment questions, answer key, and background information.
Use of a fictional city may be helpful in decreasing student fears about hurricanes in their hometown.

Technical Details/Ease of Use

Well-designed activity with a clear structure.
Students might need more guidance by teacher of how to plot the sea level data on the contour map.

Entered the Collection: March 2017 Last Reviewed: September 2014