Tracking a Hurricane
Name:
School:
Email:
Patrick Stevens
Joliet Junior College
[email protected]
Grade Level:
Algebra 1
Class Setup:
Work in groups of 2
Teacher Role:
Facilitator
Materials Needed:
Tracking maps
Straight Edge or Ruler
Rationale:
Following Hurricanes
When a tropical “bump” occurs in the normal easterly flow of wind, the potential for
hurricanes is at hand! Falling pressure and enhanced showers can combine to turn the
“bump” into a depression which could then become a full-fledged hurricane. Hurricanes
have the potential to cause millions of dollars in damage and cost thousands of lives.
Some people track hurricanes for a living, watching carefully for the right conditions for
their development. Sheets similar to the following (available at www.accuweather.com
along with lots of interesting additional information about hurricanes) are commonly
used to track the path of a hurricane.
Hurricanes (and other things traveling the Earth) are tracked in terms of latitude and
longitude. Lines of latitude run North-South and lines of longitude run East-West. By
giving a precise latitude and longitude we can pinpoint the location of anything on the
surface of the Earth. On the following map, the numbers running up the right and left
side are latitude values and the numbers along the top and bottom are longitude numbers.
See if you can determine the latitude and longitude of Myrtle Beach and Montgomery.
The answers are listed at the bottom of the next page.
Student Activity
Equipment: Tracking maps
Straight Edge or Ruler
Statement of Students will be required to plot the path of several hurricanes and to use
Problem:
slope to describe and compare the paths of different hurricanes.
Procedure:
a.
b.
c.
Work in groups of 2.
Use data points from Hurricane Bill to plot its path on the Atlantic
map and fill in the worksheet.
Use data points from Hurricane Danny to plot its path on the East
Coast map and fill in the worksheet.
Calculations: a. For each consecutive pair of points on the worksheet, calculate the
slope:
slope =
change in latitude
.
change in longitude
b. Compare and contrast Hurricane Danny and Hurricane Bill. Write in
terms of direction and degree of change. Try to relate these ideas to
the values of the slope.
d. From Danny’s location on July 19th at 3pm, what slope would Danny
have to travel to hit Charleston? What slope to hit Miami?
e. Describe another mapping application that slope might be used.
f. Describe a non-mapping application that could use graphing ordered
pairs.
Myrtle Beach: Lat-34, Long-79; Montgomery: Lat-33.5, Long-86.
Hurricane Bill Tracking Worksheet. July 1997.
Use Atlantic Map.
Time
Latitude
12pm
July 11
8pm
July 11
33
Longitude Change
in Lat
68
-----------
35
66
11pm
July 12
43
54
Change
in Long
-----------
Slope
-----------
Hurricane Danny Tracking Worksheet. July
1997.
Use East Coast Map.
Time
Latitude
11pm
July 17
3pm July
19
29
Longitude Change
in Lat
90
-----------
30
88
8am July
25
40
70
Change
in Long
-----------
Slope
-----------
East Coast Map
Atlantic Map
Student Exercises
Tracking hurricanes or other objects on the Earth’s surface can be done with a latitude
and longitude system. Other things do not need latitude and longitude but graphing is
still important. Consider the following problems.
1.
You are moving to Joliet, Illinois and you need to rent a truck. One-Way trucking
will rent you a truck for a flat fee of $19.95 plus 50 cents per mile. Smooth
trucking will rent you a truck for an $11.50 flat fee with 65 cents per mile. Joliet
is roughly 150 miles from where you currently live. Which company should you
rent from?
Fill out the following tables and then graph the data on the given graph. In this
case, slope is the change in cost divided by the change in mileage.
Mileage
50
100
150
Cost for
Mileage
Change in
Mileage
---------
Change in
Cost
---------
Slope
--------
2.
Now we will try to generalize slope to any arbitrary set of ordered points. In
general, when considering ordered pairs of points the slope will be the change in
the vertical distance divided by the change in the horizontal distance sometimes
referred to as “rise over run”. In the following example, let y = -2x + 20
x
0
5
10
y = -2x + 20
Change in x
---------
Change in y
---------
Slope
--------
Before answering the following questions, re-examine the hurricane plots, the truck rental
graphs, and the xy graphs.
3. How are the truck rental and xy graphs the same? How are they different? How do
the slopes compare?
4. Can you describe the idea of slope in the sense of positive and negative? What does it
mean to have a positive slope? What does it mean to have a negative slope?
5. Can you think of other applications that could use the idea of slope?
Tracking a Hurricane
Grading Rubric
43-Above
21-Below
0Points
Excellent Average Average average Unacceptable
On-Task
Calculations
Exercises
Stayed on
task.
Worked well
in group.
Usually on
task.
Calculations
handled with
no assistance
form
instructor.
Calculations
done with
little
assistance
from
instructor.
90% of
problems
correct.
Necessary
work
shown.
All problems
correctly
completed.
All necessary
work shown.
Work neatly
done with
thoughtful
responses
where
needed.
Needed
occasional
prodding to
stay on task.
Assistance
needed on
half of the
calculations.
70% of
problems
correct.
Some work
incomplete.
Thoughtful
responses
absent.
Little
participation.
Needed
constant
prodding.
Assistance
needed on
the majority
of the
problems.
Absolutely no
effort.
50% of
problems
correct.
Incomplete
work for the
most part.
Less than 30% of
the work done.
Incomplete work.
_____
Unfinished.
_____
Total
______