Janelle Pasionek
ESSC 311
December 8, 2009
How to be Prepared During Severe Weather
Standard: E.ES.01.24- Describe precautions that should be taken for human safety during severe weather conditions, (thunderstorms, lightning, tornadoes, high winds, blizzard, hurricanes.)
Grade Level: 3rd grade
Objective: By the end of this lesson the students should be able to understand:
· Signs of severe weather and how to protect themselves from them.
· How to estimate how far away a storm is from their house.
· How to perform a proper tornado drill for their classroom.
Materials:
· Lesson plan
· Power Point presentation
· Computer
· Projector and screen
· A Video clip of severe weather
· A CD with thunderstorm sound effects
· Tornado drill maps and instructions
· “How Far Away is the Storm?” worksheet
· Strobe light
· CD player
· Stop watch, or clock with the seconds hand moving and visible.
· Tornado drill plan
Engage: To start off the lesson introduce the classroom to the different types of severe weather and review a little prior knowledge on how they are created, or where they are most likely to occur. Start to talk about the importance of why they should know how to protect themselves during severe weather conditions no matter where they are before you show the video clip.
(Since we live here in Michigan we experience a fare amount of tornado warnings and watches, so I decided to base my clip on the destruction and phenomenal power that tornadoes have on our environment)
**Show clip on overhead project screen from internet** http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVppfnXtPZ4
>After the video do a small discussion as a group with the class about what they thought about the video clip, and again enforce the importance as to why they should know how to protect themselves from such a powerful atmospheric phenomenon such as tornadoes.
Explore: Go through some the keys subject matters on the power point slide. Once you get to the information on lightning, stop to get the children involved in a small group activity.
· Hand out “How Far away is the Storm?” work sheet (copy on back)
· Explain the instructions on how to complete the worksheet
· Play the sound effects of the thunderstorm CD
· Turn off lights and let children look at screen with fierce looking clouds on the projector screen while you play it.
· As the CD plays, go to the light switch and every time you want the “lightning to strike” turn the strobe light in fast mode, or go to light switch and turn the lights on and off in flicker style. (Make sure you have your timing set up right, for the lightning effect so that everything goes as planned; both you and kids have the same answers for the worksheet..MAKE SURE TO WATCH THE CLOCK TO PROPERLY PREFORM THE “LIGHTNING “AT PROPER TIME!)
· At end of activity collect the worksheets
Explain: Extend on the information already explained. Review the information that was given on the four main types of severe weather. Answer any unanswered questions.
· Thunderstorms/ Lightning
o How to spot a thunderstorm
o Lightning is always present
o Stay away from electricity
o Staying safe indoors and outdoors
· Tornadoes
o Difference between tornado watch/warning
o Staying safe indoors and outdoors
o Tornado drill
· Hurricanes
o Difference between hurricane watch/warning
o Evacuation orders
o If you cant leave how to protect yourself and your house
· Blizzards
o WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES
o WINTER STORM WATCH
o WINTER STORM WARNING
o BLIZZARD WARNING
o FROST/FREEZE WARNING
o Be prepared before, after, and during the storm
o Hypothermia/Frostbite
Elaborate: To help the students grasp the concept of the lesson even more, use this time to practice a tornado drill specified for your specific type of building and classroom. Go through and explain how they are expected to line up once they hear the siren, and how they are position themselves throughout the building. In many cases the children are to squat low to the ground and grab a hard covered text book to cover behind their head over the neck area. If they forget to bring a book during the chaos just cover your head as much as possible with your hands or anything else that you might find to be useful. Be sure to influence the importance of having a tornado drill at home as well.
Evaluate: Students will be evaluated on:
· Completion of “How Far Away if the Storm?” worksheet
· Knowledgeable feedback during questions and discussion
· Be able to perform the tornado drill with ease.
· Within a week or so quiz them on the knowledge that was given to them during this presentation or as a part of a unit on weather.
Resources:
Kidler, C. (2008). Sky Diary. Retrieved December 9, 2009, from http://skydiary.com/kids/
Wicker, C. (2009). Weather Wiz Kids. Retrieved December 10, 2009, from http://www.weatherwizkids.com/
Name______
HOW FAR AWAY IS THE STORM??
To get a rough idea on how far away a severe storm might be from your house you can peform this simple calculation to help you figure it out. remember: When a storm is about 1 mile away from your area, alert the people in your area or household, and seek shelter immediately.
What to do: If you want to know how far away a storm is, count the seconds between a lightning flash and the sound of thunder. If you count to 5, between flashes and thunderclap, the storm is ONE mile away. Add ONE mile for every 5 seconds after that.
EXAMPLE: Storm #1
# of seconds _15_ .
How many times does 5 go into that number_3__.
The storm is _3__ mile(s) away!
REMINDER: EVERY 5 SECONDS = 1 MILE J
______
STORM #1 Storm #3
# of seconds ______# of seconds ______
How many times does 5 go into that number _____ How many times does 5 go into that number ______
The storm is ______mile(s) away! The storm is ______mile(s) away!
STORM #2 STORM #4
# of seconds ______# of seconds ______
How many times does 5 go into that number _____ How many times does 5 go into that number ______
The storm is ______mile(s) away! The storm is ______mile(s) away!