Raging Planet: Tornado: Teacher’s Guide
Grade Level: 6-8
Curriculum Focus: Weather
Lesson Duration: Two class periods
Program Description
Hollywood had fun trying, but nothing matches the real-life wrath of the violent, twisting storms
we call tornadoes. The people of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas — the infamous "Tornado Alley" —
know this all too well. Visit this notorious address, where more people suffer from the fearsome
funnels than in any other region.
Video Comprehension Questions
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Does a tornado have to be associated with lightning and thunder? (A tornado does not have to be
associated with lightning and thunder. A tornado only needs warm air and cool air to collide for it to
form.)
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Describe the general geographical location of “Tornado Alley.” (Tornado Alley stretches from
West Texas to the Dakotas.)
•
Where might you find daily dust devils? (The superheated plains of West Africa have daily dust
devils.)
•
Where does the Storm Prediction Center get its data? (The Storm Prediction Center gets its data
from satellite images and a complex network of radar stations across the U.S.)
•
What is the difference between hail produced in regular thunderstorms and hail produced by
supercells? (Hail from thunderstorms is generally less abundant and smaller than supercell hail, because
the updrafts in supercell clouds recycle the hailstones a number of times, making them larger and larger.)
•
By how long has tornado warning time increased since 1972? (Tornado warning time has increased
from one minute in 1972 to 20-30 minutes today.)
•
What do the different colors on Doppler Radar indicate? (Purple means wind (or rain) is moving
away from the observer. Green indicates wind moving toward the observer.)
•
If a Doppler Radar image has purple touching green, what is indicated? (Purple touching green
on a Doppler Radar screen indicates a tornado.)
Lesson Plan
Student Objectives
Raging Planet: Tornado: Teacher’s Guide
2
Students will understand:
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A scale called the Fujita Scale of Tornado Intensity rates wind-speed damage by tornadoes.
•
Engineers and architects can create tornado-proof designs for houses and other buildings.
•
By utilizing such designs, conditions can be made safer for people living in areas where
tornadoes are frequent.
Materials
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Raging Planet: Tornado video and VCR, or DVD and DVD player
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Copy of the Fujita Scale of Tornado Intensity (one for each student)
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Research materials on tornado proofing buildings
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Computer with Internet access
Procedures
1. Review with your students what they have learned about tornadoes. Your discussion should
include a description of what a tornado is like, what kind of damage a tornado can do to homes
and other structures, and how a tornado is formed.
2. Continue the discussion with a brief brainstorming session with the class about how engineers
and architects could create and test designs for tornado-proof buildings.
3. Write on the chalkboard or distribute copies of the Fujita Scale of Tornado Intensity (below),
explaining that this scale rates tornadoes according to wind speed and type and extent of
damage to buildings.
Fujita Scale of Tornado Intensity
Rating
Wind Speed
Damage
F-1
73 - 112 mph
Rips shingles off roofs; flips mobile homes.
F-2
113 - 157 mph
Upturns and flips boxcars.
F-3
158 - 206 mph
Exterior walls and roofs blown off homes. Metal buildings
collapsed or severely damaged. Forests and farmland destroyed.
F-4
207 - 260 mph
Few walls left standing. Large concrete blocks launched far
distances.
F-5
261 - 318 mph
Homes flattened with all debris removed. Schools, motels, and
other larger structures damaged considerably with exterior walls
and roofs gone. Top floors demolished.
4. Divide your class into groups, and have students use the materials you have provided in
addition to the Internet to research work that has been done to design buildings that are
tornado proof.
Published by Discovery Education. © 2005. All rights reserved.
Raging Planet: Tornado: Teacher’s Guide
3
5. Have each group member use what he or she has learned from the research to design and draw
a tornado-proof building.
6. Each student should write a paragraph describing his or her building and explaining the
tornado-proof features.
7. Encourage groups to critique the different designs and select their best ones.
8. Have groups present their best designs to the class.
9. If possible, invite an architect to review the students’ plans and explain why each would or
would not be suited to withstand a tornado.
Discussion Questions
1. Why would people choose to live in Tornado Alley? Would you choose to live there (if you
don’t already)?
2. Do you think improved building codes would help lessen property loss during a tornado (see
the Fujita Scale above)? What would you have to do to make a building “tornado proof”?
3. Would a ban on mobile homes in tornado-prone areas be a good idea or a bad one? Who would
it affect and how?
4. Use the Fujita Scale to determine what would happen to your community should an F-5
tornado go through the main business district in your community. Assume the tornado is
moving at 60 mph and is on the ground for six minutes. The funnel is 1/8 mile across.
Assessment
Use the following three-point rubric to evaluate students' work during this lesson.
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3 points: Student’s description of building is precise and thorough; tornado-proof features
clearly explained; paragraph error-free.
•
2 points: Student’s description of building is adequate; explanation of tornado-proof features
lacking in clarity; paragraph contains some errors.
•
1 point: Student’s description of building is vague; explanation lacking in clarity; paragraph
contains numerous errors.
Vocabulary
Doppler radar
Definition: A radar system that utilizes the Doppler effect for measuring velocity.
Context: Doppler radar measures how fast an object, like a raindrop, is moving away from you.
In effect, it is measuring wind speed.
supercell
Definition: Turbulent thunderclouds with strong updrafts of wind.
Published by Discovery Education. © 2005. All rights reserved.
Raging Planet: Tornado: Teacher’s Guide
4
Context: In spring, humid air traveling north collides with cool, dry air traveling south. Where
these air streams meet, huge supercell thunderclouds begin to build.
Tornado Alley
Definition: Area in the western United States from west Texas to the Dakotas known for its
frequency of tornado strikes.
Context: More than nine hundred tornadoes touch down in America every year. Most in
tornado alley, making this area the tornado capital of the world.
wall cloud
Definition: A wedge of slowly rotating clouds shaped like the base of a pyramid.
Context: A wall cloud is the final sign a tornado could form in minutes.
Academic Standards
National Academy of Sciences
The National Science Education Standards provide guidelines for teaching science as well as a coherent
vision of what it means to be scientifically literate for students in grades K-12. To view the standards,
visit http://books.nap.edu.
This lesson plan addresses the following science standards:
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Earth Science: Structure of the earth system
Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL)
McREL's Content Knowledge: A Compendium of Standards and Benchmarks for K-12 Education
addresses 14 content areas. To view the standards and benchmarks, visit
http://www.mcrel.org/compendium/browse.asp.
This lesson plan addresses the following national standards:
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Science—Earth Science: Understands Earth's composition and structure.
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Technology: Understands the relationships among science, technology, society, and the
individual.
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Geography—Physical Systems: Knows the physical processes that shape patterns on Earth’s
surface.
Support Materials
Develop custom worksheets, educational puzzles, online quizzes, and more with the free teaching tools
offered on the Discoveryschool.com Web site. Create and print support materials, or save them to a
Custom Classroom account for future use. To learn more, visit
•
http://school.discovery.com/teachingtools/teachingtools.html
Published by Discovery Education. © 2005. All rights reserved.