Below are ideas for extending this topic beyond the activity and exploration you just completed.

• Lesson Assessment and Answer Key
• Activity Extension: Challenge your student engineers with these questions.
  
• Readings: Two great readings about hurricanes from Newsela.
  
• Video Discussion: Watching hurricanes from space lets you see them in a new way.
  
• Activity: A hands-on activity that uses models to explore the effects of flooding.
• Background information: Help students understand the difference between a cyclone and a hurricane.

Tell your students that the people of Beachtown had a meeting to discuss the proposals your class came up with. Ask your students how they would answer their questions or address their issues.

Remember: There are no right answers and it may be difficult to make everyone happy.

• Mrs. Green doesn’t like the plans that include wetlands because she thinks wetlands have lots of mosquitoes. What would you say to convince Mrs. Green that wetlands are a good idea?
• Mr. Crawford's great-great-grandfather owned the historic general store on Ocean Avenue. He says that stilts are not historically accurate. Can you protect that building without using stilts and stay within budget?
  
• Mr. Hunter is a bird watcher. He thinks you should make a nature trail through the wetlands for bird watchers. Do you have the budget for that?
  
• Suppose the town council got a federal grant to help. Now they have another $200,000 to spend and they want to protect as many ordinary (non-historic buildings) as possible. How would you revise your plan?

Exciting stories about hurricanes extend students’ knowledge of these powerful storms. The readings from Newsela are free with registration.

• Hurricane Florence demonstrated the destructive power of wind and rain. (Newsela, Grade 5)

• Fuel for the Storm reveals how hurricanes get their strength. (Ocean Today, a site created by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)

This time-lapse movie shows a satellite view of the 2012 hurricane season — from June 1 to November 29 — in less than 5 minutes. The excitement starts with hurricane Chris at 0:22, followed by Debbie at 0:30, Ernesto at 1:27, and more.

As you watch, try to answer these questions:

• Which way does each hurricane spin? Do they all spin the same way?
  
• If you were worried about hurricanes, where wouldn't you want to live?
  
• What do you notice about the names for hurricanes?
• What happens to Sandy (a superstorm) after it moves onto the land?
  

You’ll find more satellite views of hurricanes here.

• If you want a more hands-on experience (and you’re willing to take on a messy experiment), check out this Teach Engineering activity, in which students make a model of a river and learn first-hand what happens when it floods.