A severe weather lesson should be one of those things that your students can probably relate to. No matter where you live, your students probably have experienced some type of severe weather in their life, even if it’s just a thunderstorm. There are also winter storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, and more!
Although this could be a scary topic to teach, it’s a very interesting subject. It is very informative as well! Learning about what causes severe weather and what to expect can be very important to help students be prepared when severe weather comes their way.
You never know, you may have a future meteorologist or storm chaser in your class!
So, what are some ideas to add to your extreme weather lesson plans? Well, you’re in luck. I have 7 ideas to share with you in this post that will bring that WOW factor to your classroom.
First, I will share some engaging ideas to get your students hooked into the lesson and begin to wonder about how storms work. Then, I will show you how to help your students learn the content without being overwhelmed with so much information at a time. Finally, I will share some activities that you can do with your students that will widen their knowledge on this fun topic.
So, let’s go and learn more about making this the best severe weather lesson ever!
Engaging Activities to Add to Your Severe Weather Lesson Plans
Imagine this. You’ve already taught your students a lot about the atmosphere already. You’ve talked about the composition of the atmosphere, the layers of the atmosphere, the water cycle, air masses and fronts, and now it’s time to learn about severe weather. Your students are interested in the stuff, but not to the extent that you’d wish. They are more worried about the party that Johnny is having on Friday night (oohhh…middle school). So, you have to grab their attention.
I have three ideas for you that will help you do just that!
Severe Weather Lesson Story Time
This is one of my favorite things to do when I’m teaching about severe weather. Like I said, most everyone has dealt with some type of severe weather in their life, even if it’s just a thunderstorm. A lot of students have probably had some experience with another type, especially if you live in an eastern coastal state like me!
Before beginning the lesson, open up a discussion, and just ask your students if they have ever experienced severe weather. If they don’t quite understand what you mean, you can explain.
I have had some wild stories from my students before. I’ve even had a student tell me the story about the beginning of the movie the Wizard of Oz. Although not quite what I had imagined, it was hilarious!
In this coastal state, we do experience thunderstorms, hurricanes, and tornadoes. We don’t get crazy winter storms here, but we have had experience with some extreme ice! Making the learning personal for students can draw them in and get them excited to dive into the science of severe weather.
You can even get into more discussions.
Is severe weather coming to your area? Talk about it.
See if you can have your students answer the question, “What is the most dangerous severe weather? Why?.
Meteorologist Guest Speaker for the Severe Weather Lesson
A guest speaker is a great way to get students excited about learning. Meteorologists are obviously very knowledgeable about this topic and probably have some great experiences to share with your students. They will probably dive into the content a little, which is fine, but this can really get students fired up and wanting to learn more.
There are meteorologists everywhere, so it’s likely you have a local one you can call. In my experience at different schools, I’ve always been able to contact a meteorologist that was either willing to come to the class to speak, or at least talk to us online.
It’s always fun and exciting when there is another “teacher” in the room!
Fire Tornado
What is more engaging than a spinning column of fire? Not sure! Another way to get your students engaged when you are about to teach severe weather is to do a fun demo!
In this demo by Steve Spangler, you can make a fire tornado! (start video at 10:03)
You will need:
- a Lazy Susan
- wire screen mesh or mesh trashcan
- a small glass dish
- sponge(s)
- lighter fluid
- lighter
Be sure to try it out first before you do it in the classroom.
First, you will get a mesh trashcan or a wire mesh cylinder of about 2.5 feet tall and set it to the side. Place the dish in the center of the Lazy Susan. Cut the sponge into pieces and put into the bowl. Soak the sponges with the lighter fluid, and light it on fire.
Then, you will rotate the Lazy Susan. Your students will notice that the fire will spin, but you cannot see a tornado. Then, you will place the wire screen cylinder over the bowl. You will see the tornado then. Super neat!
Ask your students about the significance of the mesh. What made the difference?
If you don’t feel comfortable doing a fire demo in your classroom, you can always just watch the video.
Learning: What are the 4 Types of Severe Weather?
Ok, so now your students are HYPE. They are ecstatic about learning more about severe weather and learning about the 4 types of severe weather.
There is a lot of information to learn about these storms, so an interactive lesson is the way to go! If students get overwhelmed with too much information in their working memory, they will not learn anything at all.
Interactive lessons are great for helping students to learn easier and keep material in their long-term memory. How? These lessons are set up so that students learn information in chunks and process the information as they go. They are also created to engage students through research-based strategies such as graphic organizers, highlighting the important information, and much more.
This Severe Weather Interactive Lesson is great for teaching by direct instruction, for students to do individually or with a partner, for science centers, and so much more. It comes with a print version, a digital version, and guided Cornell notes, so there are TONS of options to adjust it to your classroom needs.
It covers the 4 types of weather: thunderstorms, hurricanes, tornadoes, and winter storms. In addition, it covers, air pressure, low-pressure and high-pressures systems, how lightning and thunder form and so much more. You can learn more about it and preview it here.
The interactive activities embedded within include drag-and-drop, a KWL chart, answering questions in the text box, a severe weather sort, and more.
You can also find this lesson on TPT.
This is one of my favorite severe weather lesson ideas!
Extreme Weather Teaching Ideas to Widen Student Knowledge
At this point, your students are loving the topic, have learned a ton, and are ready to show off what they have learned while widening their knowledge in the process. This is your chance to extend the lesson if you have time, work on some projects, or just have a little practice.
Here are 3 fun ideas!
Green Screen Weather Research Project
If you have a green screen at your school, this is a great activity for your students to do that will be so much fun.
Allow your students to research more information about one of the types of severe weather, and then they have to give an extended weather report.
They can even research weather reports that have been done in the past. If you watch a lot of weather channel, you’ll know that they do a great job of educating about the science of what is happening.
You can go as simple or as detailed as you like!
Design a Storm Chase Vehicle
This is a great severe weather STEM lesson to add your list of activities.
Have your students choose a type of severe weather and then using a variety of materials, design and create a model of a vehicle that could survive chasing the storm.
They will have to know the ins and outs of their chosen storm and learn about wind speed, dangers, etc.
A lot of learning can take place and STEM activities are HUGE right now for several reasons.
Severe Weather Task Cards
Maybe you have time for something extra, but just not enough time for a project. I got you! These severe weather task cards are the perfect extension and assessment to get students thinking about everything that they just learned.
They are wonderful alternative to a worksheet and get students up and other of their seats!
Here are some ways to use task cards.
These cover high-pressure and low-pressure systems, thunderstorms, hurricanes, tornadoes, and typhoons, cumulonimbus clouds, and more.
They are great for science centers, review, RTI, test prep, early finishers, and more.
There are 20 task cards in all.
You can also find these on TPT.
Which idea will you add to your severe weather lesson plans?
Help your students master science content!
[…] Severe Weather […]