Online Learning Activities
Hurricanes: A Severe Weather and Natural Disasters Activity
Scholastic’s online activities bring students face-to-face with hurricanes, sharing how they’re formed, measured, located, and much more.
- Grades: 3–5, 6–8
“Hurricanes,” part of the “Weather Watch: Severe Weather and Natural Disasters” series, offers students a comprehensive look at these swirling, dangerous storms. Scholastic’s engaging interactive activities include:
- The Basics: Students read a brief definition of hurricanes and learn what causes them.
- In Depth: This three-page reading activity — including images, text, and charts — covers the following topics…
o What does a hurricane look like?
o What makes a hurricane?
o How do they determine the "category"?
o How do they name the hurricane?
o When will they stop?
- Experiments: Students learn how to use a hurricane tracking map
- Witness Account: Kaleatha Vines shares the terrifying story of seeing her home destroyed, her town in chaos, and her best friend missing after Hurricane Floyd hit North Carolina in 1999.
- Words to Know: This interactive activity tests students’ know-how. They read an article on hurricanes and fill in missing key words to complete sentences.
- Experts Say: Weather expert Michael Wyllie shares how strong hurricanes can grow, how he tracks them, why he finds them so fascinating, and more.
- Be Ready!: Students can click around an interactive image to learn about hurricane safety.
- Quiz Challenge: This 10-question, multiple-choice quiz tests challenges students on what they’ve learned.
Learning Objectives
Students will:
- Formulate questions to help guide their own learning
- Gain knowledge of weather terms and their appropriate usage
- Use observation skills to determine current weather conditions
- Gather data from several sources
- Forecast probable weather conditions after analyzing available data
- Complete a research project on a topic of their choice
- Subjects:Hurricanes, Content Area Reading
