Student slideshow: English  | Spanish

Teacher printout: English & Spanish

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)

Activity Extension: Challenge your student engineers with these questions about Beachtown.

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.

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.

You can elaborate student learning and engagement with Mystery Science mini-lessons.

• What makes hurricanes so dangerous? In this mini-lesson students explore some of the reasons hurricanes can be so dangerous.

If you are in an NGSS state, this mini-lesson supports the DCI ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems