Level 2: Winter Weather Woes: Thunder and Lightning
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Level 2: Winter Weather Woes
Connected 2 2004
Science and English
Thunderstorms P14-17
by William Rae
Thunderstorms are an extreme form of weather
that can be very dangerous. This article
describes what causes lightning and thunder to
occur. It also provides safety tips.
Science Goal
Literacy Goal
Physical world
Identify and summarise main ideas.
Identify and describe how static electricity is
generated during a thunder storm
Specialised vocabulary: lightning, thunder, humid, positive and negative particles, charges, sheet
and fork lightning
Interest words: crackling rumble,
Task purpose
To wonder about, create and answer questions about the effect of static electricity generated during
a thunderstorm
In winter, New Zealand is often hit by extreme weather http://wwlln.net
This University of Washington site offers a
events: such as thunderstorms. We are going to
explore the effects of static electricity generated during view from outer space of lightning events in
the world in real time. New Zealand is seen.
thunderstorms. First let take a look at one of the
Otago University is one of the lightning
effects in this link. http://wwlln.net
location sensor hosts.
1.What do you notice as you sweep over the earth?
What do we know already?
2. Discuss with a partner what you know already about
lightning and thunder?
3. Either write a few sentences explaining what you
know about thunder and lightning.
We know that lightning
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
We know that thunder
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
3b Or Draw what you both know about thunder and
lightning. Label the drawing and give it a title.
4.Skim the article “Thunder and Lightning”p14-17 and
view http://scijinks.jpl.nasa.gov/lightning/
5.
Choose one of these questions or create your own
question on the topic to explore in depth

What causes the lightning in a thunderstorm?

How is the noise of thunder made?

Why do we see lightning before we hear the
thunder?

Why is fork-lightning so dangerous for human
beings?
5. Read and view your selected resources (choose 2-3)
to generate answers to your question.
6. Create a summary of the most important
information that best answers your question.
7.Plan a way of communicating to other people what
you have learned.
You could:
A) Create a “now I know why” demonstration to share
the answer to your question
http://www.weatherwizkids.com/experimentslightning.htm
(This link uses a light bulb and a balloon to demonstrate
the principle of lightning.)
Explain what the demonstration shows. Use
information from your summary. You could video this.
http://scijinks.jpl.nasa.gov/lightning/
This USA website gives an explanation of
lightning illustrated by some impressive
graphics.
https://scied.ucar.edu/webweather/thun
derstorms/how-lightning-forms
This link demonstrates how lightning is
formed.
http://www.weatherwatch.co.nz/content/kids
time-thunderstorms
This is a New Zealand website that has simple
explanations to a number of questions about
thunder, lightning and hail.
http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/weather/page-5
This link webpage explains information about
thunderstorms, lightning and hail damage
Creating a summary
1.Make notes of the most important
information, electronically or on paper.
2. Locate the information that will help
you answer your question. Write this
information in sentences.
3. Combine the important information
from the resources you have chosen.
4. Sequence the important information
that best answers your question.
B) Plan and create labelled diagrams or photographs
that show the answer to your question. This could be
included on a power-point to share with your classmates.
Create a script using your summary to accompany the
power point
How effective was I in achieving my literacy goal?
Was my note-taking helpful?
What did I do well?
Was I able to find and use the most
important ideas from the resources to
help me answer my question?
What do I still need to work on?
Was I able to combine the key ideas
together effectively?
Did I effectively order the important
information that best answered my
question?
Did I achieve my intended purpose in a
way that engaged the audience?
How effective was I in achieving my science goal?
Did I use information to inform my
thinking and generate new questions?
What did I do well?
What do I still need to work on?
Was I able to effectively answer my
question and convey what I had learned
about the effects of static electricity in a
thunderstorm in a way that others could
understand to generate further
questions?