Flying Into the Eye of a Storm
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English/Language Arts
Explore nonfiction text structures
STEM
Explore the nature of energy
Research Skills
Explore Note Taking skills
Explore nonfiction text structures
- Have students explore the connection between the type of information they want to present and the text structure they choose. Look at the organization of this article. There is a question and answer format embedded in a descriptive narrative. Have students discuss alternative organizational structures for informational texts. Experiment with writing about hurricanes in a sequential structure - what question(s) would drive that choice? Try the same thing with a cause/effect structure. What questions would make that structure a good choice? Problem/solution? Compare/contrast?
STEM
Explore the nature of energy
- Use the article as a jumping off point to explore the nature of energy and look at other questions surrounding the phenomenon of hurricanes. Explore questions like
- How do hurricanes form?
- How can we build structures that withstand hurricanes
- Are the strength and frequency of hurricanes changing over time?
- Is there a connection between climate changes and hurricanes?
- Take a closer look at the Saffir-Simpson scale. Does this scale make sense for measuring hurricanes? Could a different scale be developed? Are there scales for other natural disasters? How do they compare?
Research Skills
Explore Note Taking skills
- Work on note taking skills from visuals by having students gather information from the cut-away graphic at the bottom of the article.
- The author asks some basic questions about hurricanes. Generate some more in-depth questions generated from the provided answers.
- Search hurricanes and have students track their choices. Map how following interests can result in focus [Ex: hurricanes → hurricane Irma→ cost of clean-up]
© Karen Sterling, 2017 - May be used for educational purposes without written permission