10-Day Unit Outline

Day 1: To start the unit, the class will have an open discussion on what the students know about severe storms. What storms are considered severe? How do these storms form? Where do they form most often? After the class discussion students will complete the K and W columns of a KWL chart. After the students have time to fill out their Ks and Ws, the class will make a KWL anchor chart that reflects common ideas and questions that the students have. This anchor chart will be hung in the classroom throughout the unit, to remind the students what they knew and what they wanted to learn about. Day 2: On the second day of the unit we will begin the two language arts activities that will extend the length of the unit: the vocabulary log and the science journal entries. For the vocabulary log, students will track in a foldable the new words they come across while reading about severe weather. Words may include, but are not limited to: storm surge, funnel, convection, front, barometer, and anemometer. In the foldable, students will write the word on the front flap along with a picture of the vocabulary (either cut from a magazine article, printed from the internet or drawn by the student). On the inside, the students will write a definition of the word and use it in a sentence. The science journal entries will be done every day to track local weather. Each morning, students will be given the chance to look out the window and describe the days weather. If possible, a simple thermometer should be placed visibly outside so the students can include the days temperature. Using this data, students will learn to predict upcoming weather patterns. On day two, the students will also be reading their Time for Kids article, Storms!. This article will give them an overview of severe weather, from which they will build their knowledge over the course of the unit. The magazine comes with comprehension checks that the students will complete as they read through the magazine. Day 3: Day three is all about hurricanes. Students will be completing guided reading notes as the class reads through Hurricanes by Seymour Simon. This lesson will

help students build their knowledge of the formation of hurricanes and also where they are likely to occur. For independent practice, students will create a comic strip on the back of their guided notes, which depicts the formation of a hurricane. It should include warm ocean waters, lots of evaporation, humidity forms clouds, and winds that create circular movement and push the storm along. Students will also be allowed to use http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-hurricane.htm to help them complete their comic strip. This website has kid-friendly explanations of hurricane formation and helpful diagrams for creating the comic strip.

Day 4: On day four, students will be learning about tornados. Using the text, Tornado!: The Story Behind These Twisting, Turning, Spinning and Spiraling Storms by NatGeo Kids, students will research how and where tornados form. Students will then be broken into groups. If available, students will use laptops from the laptop cart to create PowerPoint presentations that they will use to inform their fellow students on tornados. They will be sure to include: formation, tornado alley, the Fujita scale, and the difference between a tornado watch and a tornado warning. Students will be allowed to use http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weathertornado.htm (the same website as the hurricanes webpage) to help them find additional information for their slides.

Day 5: As a class, we will begin reading Twisters on Tuesday a Magic Tree House book that helps the students see what the reality of a tornado is like for the people living in tornado alley. This book is slightly below grade level, but will be great for gaining information and working on reading fluency. The class will read the first three chapters together, looking for key vocabulary words from the day before. Students will then read the fourth chapter on their own, and finish the book over the weekend as homework. Finishing in the book is key to starting a fun lesson on Monday about the similarities and differences between hurricanes and tornados.

Students who do not finish the book over the weekend will use class time to finish the story before starting their project.

Day 6: After finishing Twisters on Tuesday over the weekend, students will be given the chance to show what theyve learned about tornados and hurricanes by comparing and contrasting them in a Venn diagram. Students will be allowed to use the classroom computer(s) and the following two texts to help them complete their Venn diagram: Magic Tree House Fact Tracker #8: Twisters and Other Terrible Storms: A Nonfiction Companion to Magic Tree House #23: Twister on Tuesday and Super Storms by Seymour Simon. Using these texts students will compare and contrast tornados and hurricanes, making sure to focus on formation, where they occur, how they are categorized, the dangers and maybe including some historical references (Hurricane Katrina or large tornados that affected tornado alley).

Day 7: Students will be given time to complete their Venn diagrams. Once everyone is finished, students will be asked to come to the front of the room and present their work to the class. The students in the audience will be allowed to ask questions and give constructive feedback. After presentations are finished, the class will work together to fill in the L column of the KWL charts. Students will begin by completing their individual KWL charts, and then the class will work together to finish the KWL anchor chart that depicts the class as a whole.

Day 8: On day eight the class will begin to learn about global climate change and how human interaction with the environment can increase the strength and power of severe weather. The class will begin the lesson by reading Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. This is a great story to begin the lesson because students love it, and it shows that even though humans may be well meaning, changing the environment often has extreme effects on weather. After reading the story, students will be

broken up into groups. Each group will be given a copy of How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate, Scientists and Kids Explore Global Warming. Each group will be given a different experiment to read about. With the information they learn, the group will create a poster to present to the class about the damaging effects of human interaction on the environment. After presentations, the class will talk about how human-environment interaction could affect severe weather.

Day 9: Students will either use laptops from the laptop cart or go to the computer lab to explore http://epa.gov/climatechange/kids/solutions/prepare/weather.html, which is a website for students that explains global climate changes effects on severe weather. Using the information theyve learned over the course of the unit, students will write a newspaper article that meets the following set of criteria: the article should include information including the formation and location of tornados and hurricanes, the affects of global climate change on these processes and an analysis of the past weeks local weather (from their science journal). Using the information from their science journal, students will analyze whether or not severe weather is in sight for their local area.

Day 10: Students will be given time to complete their articles. After completion, students will be broken into groups to present to their peers. Each group will elect a speaker to present the best project to the class. After presentation, the ten best articles (as chosen by the students) will be put on display in the hallway outside of the classroom.