Severe Weather!
Thunderstorms, Tornadoes and Hurricanes … oh my!
A webquest about Severe Weather
5th Grade (Science)
Designed by: Meghan Helms
Home
Introduction
Resources
Checklist
Task
Process
Evaluation
Conclusion
Introduction
Attention ALL RESIDENTS!!
The town of Extremeville needs your help! There have
been various types of severe weather approaching the town
and the residents aren’t sure what to do. As a resident of
Extremeville, you will learn from expert meteorologists about a
type of severe weather. It’s important to learn about these
storms so you and all the other residents in Extremeville will
know what to expect and what to do to stay safe! But hurry,
the storms are moving quickly and there is no time to waste!
HOME
Task
You are a resident in the town of Extremeville and
you must investigate a type of severe weather so you can
help to warn the other residents in your town. You will
choose one type of severe weather to focus on and you
will have the opportunity to learn from expert
meteorologists to gather more information. You may
work with other students who choose the same type of
severe weather as you or you may work by yourself. But
your goal will be to take all the information learned from
your expert and create a public service announcement
that will play for the town of Extremeville to help
educate everyone about severe weather! But you must
work efficiently because the storms will not wait!
HOME
Process
1. First you need to decide what type of severe weather you would
like to learn more about.
2. Once you choose the storm you would like to learn more about,
you can either work by yourself or you can find others in the room
that also chose that particular storm to complete the rest of the
process. If you work with a group make sure everyone in the
group participates because you will be filling out an evaluation of
how well your group members worked together.
3. Follow the link to the specific severe weather of your choice and
learn from the meteorologist and their favorite websites (you will
either click on the Tornado, Thunderstorm or Hurricane links).
Take notes in your science journal so that you can remember all
the information about this type of severe weather. Refer to the
rubric and checklist for all the information you will need to
gather for your final presentation.
4. After you have gathered facts about your chosen type of severe
weather you must now decide with your group (or individually)
how you are going to teach the rest of the people in Extremeville
about your storm through a public service announcement. You
can choose from the following sources to share your knowledge:
i. Voicethread Public Service Announcement
ii. Flip Video Public Service Announcement
5. After you choose the way you are going to share your information
with the other residents of Extremeville, you will need to make
sure to include EVERYTHING on the checklist in your public
service announcement. This is for your neighbors and your
survival so don’t leave anything out!
HOME
Resources (Choose ONE)
Tornadoes
Click on the following links and learn from expert meteorologist Twisty.
He loves tornadoes and will tell you all he knows about them!
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson116.shtml
http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-safety-tornado.htm
http://skydiary.com/kids/tornadoes.html
http://www.healthyschoolsms.org/health_education/documents/tornado1.pdf
http://www.healthyschoolsms.org/health_education/documents/tornado2.pdf
http://www.healthyschoolsms.org/health_education/documents/tornado3.pdf
http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/edu/safety/tornadoguide.html
http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-tornado.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzBiEN6bXEY
http://pbskids.org/dragonflytv/show/tornados.html
http://www.april31974.com/tornado_kit.htm
HOME
Severe Thunderstorm
Click on the following links and learn from expert meteorologist Stormy.
She loves thunderstorms and will tell you all she knows about them!
http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-thunderstorms.htm
http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-safety-thunderstorm.htm
http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0875669.html
http://www.morganga.org/CountyOffices/EmergencyManagement/WeatherSafety/ThunderstormFacts
Safety/tabid/442/Default.aspx
http://www.morrowcounty.info/www/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=72&Itemid=12
3
http://www.theweatherchannelkids.com/weather-ed/weather-encyclopedia/severe-thunderstorms/
http://www.historyforkids.org/scienceforkids/physics/weather/lightning.htm
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xaywc0_kids-music-the-thunderstorm-by-kraz_music
HOME
Hurricanes
Click on the following links and learn from expert meteorologist Wendy.
She loves hurricanes and will tell you all she knows about them!
http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-hurricane.htm
http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-safety-hurricane.htm
http://www.yatcom.com/neworl/weather/whatis.html
http://kids.earth.nasa.gov/archive/hurricane/
http://kids.earth.nasa.gov/archive/hurricane/creation.html
http://kids.earth.nasa.gov/archive/hurricane/damage.html
http://skydiary.com/kids/hurricanes.html
http://www.emergencyplanningexperts.com/hurricane-survival-kits/
http://www.schoolkidshealthcareblog.com/2011/5-hurricane-safety-tips.html
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/kids/forces-of-nature-kids/hurricanes-101-kids/
HOME
Evaluation
Working/Group collaboration rubric (Teacher)
None – Very Few Times
Most of the Time
All of the Time
Total Points
Most of the Time
All of the Time
Total Points
Collaborating
The teacher observers the
students working
together by listening and
talking on topic.
Participating
The teacher observes
students interacting and
participating in all
aspects of the webquest.
Questioning
The teacher observes
students interacting and
questioning each other’s
expertise to come to a
conclusion
Respecting
The teacher observes the
students respecting each
other’s opinions and
politely working together.
Individual Rubric (Teacher)
None – Very Few Times
Collaborating/Research
The teacher observers the
student working their way
through the websites and
staying on task.
Participating
The teacher observes
student actively engaged
in the process.
Questioning
The teacher observes
student using higher
order strategies to create
and develop their
product.
Video/Information Rubric
Video/Information Rubric
1
2
3
Creativity
The video shows
little creativity
effort and the
audience is left
bored or lost in the
presentation and
information.
The video shows an
attempt at
creativity and the
audience is mostly
entertained and
informed.
Storm Content
Storm content or
information is
incorrect or missing
major facts to help
with understanding.
Safety Content
Safety content is
incorrect or not
present in the
video. (or clear
enough to
understand
connection)
Information in
survival kit is mostly
inaccurate and no
examples or
explanation is given
therefore leaving
the audience
uninformed.
Storm content is
mostly correct but
some facts and or
clarity might be
missing from
presentation.
Safety content is
attempted in the
video but some
facts or clear
explanation might
be missing.
The video shows
creativity and
effort by all group
members and the
audience is
entertained and
informed
throughout.
Storm content and
information is
clear, accurate and
easy to understand.
Survival Kit
Participation
Clarity/Organization
One or more
students in the
group do not
participate actively
in the video making
process.
Audience is not
able to understand
the approaching
storm and/or how
to stay safe.
Information on
survival kit is mostly
accurate, with an
attempt to explain
and give examples
but there might be
missing
components or lack
in clarity.
Some students
participate actively
in the video. Some
students may not
do as much as
others.
Audience has
difficultly following
the safety
procedures and/or
understanding the
information about
the storm.
Safety content
explained in the
video is accurate
and clearly
explained.
Information on
survival kit is
accurate, explained
well with visuals or
examples and
relates to real
world.
All students
participate actively
in the video (in
some way).
Audience is able to
understand the
identified storm
and able to
perform the safety
procedures
described in the
video.
Total Points
Public Service Announcement Checklist
(What you need to have in your public service announcement)
 Definition of your storm
o How does it form?
o Where does it form? Include a map!
o What does it look like (how could you spot it in the
sky?)
 Illustration or description of how your storm appears
 Steps of what to do to stay safe
 Description of what to include in a safety kit to survive the
storm
o Include all items (list, draw, use examples or explain)
o Where should you keep the kit?
o Where can people by these supplies?
HOME
Conclusion
Congratulations!
You have helped the people of Extremeville and now everyone will
know what to do when severe weather is approaching, including you!
The town appreciates your expertise so much that they have loaded
your video for the entire state to see, because everyone needs to know
about severe weather, and thanks to you, now they can! Great job!
HOME
Jigsaw Worksheet –Write down facts or draw a picture for each section.
(where students will fill in information from presentations of public service announcements)
Storm Name/
Illustration:
Where it forms:
How it forms:
Safety Tips:
Survival Kit Items:
Extra Facts/Pictures:
Credits
Graphics:
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://sincedutch.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/severe-radarring-alert.jpg&imgrefurl=http://sincedutch.wordpress.com/2011/10/22/10222011-severe-weatheroutbreak-large-outbreak-of-hail-inmidwest/&usg=__B0PwA2NLeQ1k5aCMSyoj_IGzKqI=&h=1080&w=1920&sz=426&hl=en&start=31&zoo
m=1&tbnid=GxwDupwKpvQjWM:&tbnh=84&tbnw=150&ei=CifWT57uBIWm8ATIyqzoAw&prev=/search
%3Fq%3Dsevere%2Bweather%2Balert%26start%3D21%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26s
a%3DN%26gbv%3D2%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1
http://media.cmgdigital.com/shared/img/photos/2012/01/20/bb/1e/10792830_2.jpg
http://orkutmela.com/images/scraps/16/14.gif
http://hereisfree.com/content1//pic/zip/2009521104489377801.jpg
http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/63725main_Lightning_cartoon_ltn.jpg
Microsoft Clip Art
*All previous websites linked under “Resources”
Teacher Page
Grade Level: 5th
Standards
Essential Standards:

5.E.1 Understand weather patterns and phenomena, making connections to the weather in a
particular place and time.

5.E.1.1 Compare daily and seasonal changes in weather conditions (including wind speed and
direction, precipitation, and temperature) and patterns.
NETS-S Standards:

Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products
and processes using technology. Students: create original works as a means of personal or
group expression

Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively,
including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.
Students: interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of
digital environments and media. Communicate effectively to multiple audiences using a variety
of media and formats.

Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate and use information. Students: locate, organize,
analyze, evaluate, synthesize and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media.
Timeframe: This webquest is designed to take approximately one week (depending on the allotted time
each day). The teacher will first need to explain the webquest to students and show them the process
they will be going through so students feel comfortable once they get started. Students will need about
45 minutes to an hour to research and take notes from the websites. They will then need to use 2-3 days
to plan, complete and present their public service announcement including all concepts on the checklist.
Webquest Design: I chose to design the webquest in a linear type word document because I wanted
students to be able to have an easily accessible home page with directions and information if they were
to get side tracked or lost during the process. I also wanted a simple linear approach to the webquest
where students were introduced to the process and then took one route to finish the process. I think
Microsoft word does a great job with this as it allows for a page to page flow and also the hyperlinks
from page to page as well for quicker access and navigation. I also liked Microsoft word for this
webquest because many students are familiar with this program and it’s loaded on all computers at my
school so it will be easily accessible and comfortable for the students to use.
Webquest Goals/Purpose: The purpose of this webquest is to let students explore a type of severe
weather in order to become an expert. They will navigate to different websites and be able to choose
which ones to gather their information from. They are able to experience information about the type of
severe weather from exploration on various websites where they feel like they are in control. They will
also learn about the other types of severe weather from other students’ presentations so in the end
they will have knowledge of all three types of severe weather without the overwhelming feeling of
having to understand all three types at the same time. The public service announcement is also a
motivational tool to get students to express their knowledge of the concept in a creative and selfmotivating way and also a way that relates to something they have all seen in the real world (outside the
classroom). Students will have the choice how to express the content being assessed in their public
service announcement using self-selected technology as well. So in turn students obtain information
from various sources while having control over their learning style and assessment.
When and How would this be implemented?
Students would complete this webquest in a computer lab or using a mobile cart. Once the
research on the websites are completed the rest of the process can be completed in the classroom, as
long as there are some computers in the classroom for students who might need to refer to a website
for more information not included in their notes. However, if desired the entire webquest can be
completed in a lab as long as there is room to work on the public service announcement.
This webquest would best be implemented at the beginning of a severe weather unit. Students
will need background information about various weather concepts in order to understand the
development of the storms they will be reading about. So ideally this would occur toward the end of a
weather unit after students are aware of the following concepts:

Atmospheric pressure

Jet stream, fronts

Cloud types

Water Cycle/Weather vs. Climate
Students will also need to be familiar with and able to use either one of the tools for the public
service announcement (voicethread or flip videos).
Differentiation: This webquest offers the following ways to differentiate for students:

Student choice –students are able to choose the type of severe weather to learn about
-students are able to choose to work on their own or with a group
-students are able to choose the type of technology for their assessment

Representation –students are able to choose from a variety of websites that represent
information differently

Assessment –students are able to decide how to present information learned in various video
styles