Teacher
J Hoeffner
Lesson Topic
Tracking Hurricanes
Lesson 6
Class/Grade Level
Science 8
Period/Time : 2 days
Daily Objective:
- Identify and describe the atmospheric and hydrospheric
conditions associated with the formation and development of
hurricanes.
- Use mathematics to interpret and communicate data
- Describe the reasoning that lead to the interpretation of data
and conclusions drawn.
- Apply knowledge of rational numbers and place value
Essential Motivating Question Every year hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of
damage and hundreds of lives are lost as a result of hurricanes in the Atlantic basin.
Why are hurricanes so devastatingly damaging and are they becoming more intense?
As Mayor of a local coastal town, what instructions will you give to your citizens to
prepare for the oncoming hurricane. If you decide to evacuate, at what point would you
give that instruction?
Subquestions: How do hurricanes move, in what directions and how fast? What
guides hurricane movement.
Procedures
Warm – Up: Update on Igor, plot last night’s and todays location. Predict 24 hour
movement. Update Journal with movement and 24 prediction.
Class discusses.
Development of the Lesson –
Day 1
 View segments of videos from current Atlantic hurricanes, record new information
in Daily Journal.
 Step 4 Using data from the Hurricane Center, plot the location & movement for
the current hurricane, its category and expected path on their Hurricane Plotting
Map.
 Today your will plot hurricanes from past seasons using one of Jason Projects
Virtual Labs.
 Log on to Jason Project and open the Hurricane tracker lab.
 Follow the directions on the following worksheet.
Day 2
 Using either Google Earth or Google Maps, create your own tracking map for
Hurricane Igor. Use the coordinate data you have collected during these weeks
of studying Hurricane Igor.
 Choose an appropriate pushpin for Hurricane Igor and use a different color to
denote each hurricane category. Create a key for your pushpin and category
color
 Upload you personal hurricane map to the class wiki.
Student Product: Students will create and plot a Hurricane Tracking map of the
current hurricane, indicating location and hurricane category using google earth
or goole maps.
Choose any 2 hurricanes, List them here:
Open the Analysis tab and look at the wind speed and pressure for each hurricane you chose. What is the
relationship between wind speed and pressure in any hurricane? Use data (numbers) from each hurricane
you chose to support you answer. (2 sentences)
Use the directions in Welcome Box 2 to calculate the speed of each of your hurricanes right before
landfall. Put answers in the boxes below:
Hurricane #1 name______________________
Hurricane #1 name______________________
Distance (found with measuring tool)
____________________________________
Time (12 hours between
points)______________________________
Distance (found with measuring tool)
____________________________________
Time (12 hours between
points)______________________________
Speed________________________________
Speed________________________________
The following questions refer to all 13 hurricanes:
Which hurricane had the greatest wind speed?
What Category storm was it at that point?
Which storm had the longest life as a hurricane?
Which storm had the longest life as a tropical
storm and hurricane (wind speed great than 39
miles per hour?)
Which hurricane came closest to passing directly over
New Orleans?
Which hurricane might have done the most
damage to New Orleans if it had passes directly
over the city?
Although they live in areas prone to storms such as hurricanes and tornadoes, many people continue to live in
homes that are not built to withstand high winds and water. What can be done to protect these people and
minimize the damage before, during, and after a storm?