By Travis McBride

E.ES Describe severe weather characteristics Grade Level Content Expectation

Objectives: Students will be able to identify the characteristics of lightning, a winter storm, and a tornado. Lesson materials: Balloons Metal spoons Blank papers Crayons/markers/colored pencils Introduction

Tornado: Starts as a funnel cloud, clouds moving in a circle but do not reach the ground. Becomes a tornado when the winds are strong enough to reach the ground. Winter storm: Winter storm consists of winds, moisture, ice, and the cold Examples: Blizzards, ice storms, really cold temperatures Lightning: Engage

Lightning 1.The teacher will pass out one blown up balloon for every two students (students will be paired up). 2.Turn off the lights and make the room as dark as possible. Each student will rub the balloon on his/her head for 30 seconds. 3.Each student will have a metal spoon and hold it close to the charged balloon. Observe what happens. 4.Everyone should see electricity (lightning) pass between the electrically charged balloon and the metal spoon. 5.As a class record some observations that the students made during the activity Explore/Explain

Explain that lightning is caused by a giant “spark” in the clouds like static electricity (just like what happened with the balloon). The lightning expands the air as it flows through it, then quickly collapses which causes thunder. Also, lightning can reach up to 50,000 degrees! Explain

Create a Severe Weather Book! 1.Each student will draw a scene for each severe weather event (tornadoes, winter storm, lightning/thunderstorm). 2.Under each picture, they will write at least one sentence explaining what they drew. 3.Add construction paper behind the drawings for a nice background in the book Elaborate

Severe Weather Book rubric: To evaluate the students, the teacher will have a rubric to grade them on their books they created in the elaborate (see attached rubric) Evaluate

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