Resources to Study Hurricanes

Get ready to study hurricanes and other weather events. Read about some great resources below. Many of these are from the blog Free Technology For Teachers.

1. Forces of Nature is a film produced by National Geographic designed to educate students about volcanoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, and tornadoes. The Forces of Nature website includes interactive activities, a glossary, complete lesson plans for teachers of students in grades K through 12, and links to resources, like Chasing a Tornado. The movie, Forces of Nature is available at Amazon for $17.00, but the lesson plans and activities can be used even if you don't have the movie.

Free Technology for Teachers also recommends a similar film from National Geographic titled Violent Earth. Violent Earth can be viewed for free on Snag Films.

2. Stop Disasters is a game designed for students to learn about natural disasters, disaster prevention, and city design.

3. In addition to searching around the globe, Google Earth is a good tool that teachers and students can use to track the movement of a hurricane. Click on the link to view a video by Frank Taylor on; using Google Earth to track storms.

4. NOAA has a free nineteen page booklet that explains how hurricanes are formed, the structure of hurricanes, and how hurricanes are observed.

5. Snag Films, is currently hosting a documentary titled Katrina's Children, which explores the impact of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans through the viewpoints of children from New Orleans.

6. The JASON Project was founded in 1989 by Dr. Robert D. Ballard, the oceanographer and explorer who discovered the shipwreck of RMS Titanic. JASON offers award-winning middle school science curricula. The current curriculum, Operation: Tectonic Fury, investigates the geologic mysteries of the Earth. Previous curricula include Operation: Infinite Potential, Operation: Resilient Planet, and Operation: Monster Storms. The online JASON Mission Center contains student text, videos, games, teacher tools and more. Registration is completely free, for educators and students.