Weather Disasters
Weather affects everyone! Although weather is beautiful in many ways, it can also be very destructive to people’s
lives. Many people have lost homes and belongings due to nature’s fury. Your mission is to go to the web and find out
about the severe weather we are faced with on earth such as winter storms, tornadoes and hurricanes and how to be
prepared for these disasters.
For this project, you will research a weather disaster that has affected many people’s lives. You will then create a
Power Point presentation that informs the viewers about a specific type of natural disaster, what to do when faced with
that type of severe weather, and information about a historical disaster
*** Below are some links that you may use to help you with your project.
www.weatherwizkids.com/
www.weather.com/newscenter/specialreports/sotc/
www.osei.noaa.gov
www.nhc.noaa.gov
www.nws.noaa.gov
Content Criteria: Your Power Point/Prezi presentation must include the following:

A title page

10 slides or more with your content- 5 of the slides must contain graphics (you may include sounds and
animation if you’d like)

Answers to all the following questions regarding your type of weather disaster:
1. What is a hurricane/tornado/winter storm?
2. How do hurricanes/tornadoes/winter storms form?
3. What type of severity scale does your specific storm have, what is the name of the scale and its
components?
4. What specific aspects make your type of storm dangerous?
5. What are some additional interesting facts that will help inform your audience? (Ex: include charts,
maps, graphs, etc.)
6. How can you protect yourself before, during and after a hurricane/tornado/winter storm?

Answers to all the following questions regarding your type of weather disaster:
7. What is the name of your specific hurricane/tornado/winter storm?
8. When and where did it occur?
9. How was it rated on its severity scale?
10. What damage was done? What was the economic impact?
11. How has the affected area rebounded from the storm? (Federal Funding, etc.)
12. What are some additional interesting facts that will help inform your audience of this event? (Ex:
include charts, maps, graphs, etc.)

A final slide citing your resources (websites, graphics, video, etc.)
Weather Disasters
Project Checklist
Research
_____ Did you research your topic thoroughly? Is the information important to the assigned
topic?
_____ Did you have a minimum of 3 internet sources?
_____ Did you write down needed information to cite all sources for graphics, content,video ,
etc.?
Visual Presentation
_____ Does your presentation have 10 or more content slides?
_____ Do your slides contain no more than 5 bullets and no more than 5 words per bullet?
_____ Is your presentation visually pleasing?
_____ Is your presentation creative and engaging?
_____ Do your graphics, video, sounds, etc. enhance the understanding of ideas rather than
distract your presentation?
_____ Do you have a list of your resources (web sites, graphics, video, etc.) on your final slide?
Oral Presentation
_____ Is the length of your presentation between 5-10 minutes?
_____ Is the presenter(s) voice clear and loud enough for all to hear?
_____ Is the posture and appearance of the presenters professional and appropriate?
_____ Do the presenters have appropriate eye contact with the audience?
_____ Are presenters elaborating on the bulleted text rather than reading the slides?
Content
_____ Is your content clear and concise (to the point)?
_____ Are your slides in a logical sequence?
_____ Is the topic well covered and focused?
_____ Is your information accurate and current?
Language Arts Mechanics
_____ Are your web sources cited using the correct format?
_____ Is your presentation free from spelling and grammatical errors?