Design for Learning

Instructor: Emily Kelley Area: Science

Title: Tornadoes Date: Day 3
Grade Level: 3
rd
Grade Estimated Time: 1 hr
Standards Connection:
12.) Identify conditions that result in specific weather phenomena, including
thunderstorms, tornadoes, and hurricanes.
Identifying positive and negative effects of weather phenomena
Learning Goal(s):
When given the graphic organizer Quick Write/ Quick Draw, students are able to
draw a tornado and label what shape it is and what Fujita Scale it is according to
the damage drawn and write 1 cause and 1 effect of a tornado according to a
checklist.
Evaluation of Learning Goal:
Students will fill out a Quick Write/ Quick Draw graphic organizer. Students will
draw a tornado and level the funnel shape and the destruction is causes and be
able to label it according to the Fujita Scale. The quick write portion will include
students identifying one cause and one effect of a tornado. The cause and effect
will need to align with the teacher's checklist.
Engagement:
Good morning students! We are going to start off today's class by watching a
short clip of a movie. The teacher will turn off the lights and play a short clip from
the movie Twister. The students will be in their seats at their table. The scene will
show the tornado forming and the storm chaser going after it. It will also show
the magnitude of the tornado and the destruction that it can cause. The teacher
will turn the light back on. Can anyone tell me the name of this movie? Some
student may not know due to date the movie was made, but one student should
be able to recognize the movie and say Twister. That is correct! This movie is
called twister, which is another name for a tornado. Have any of you seen a
tornado in real life? What did it look like? Did it look like the one in the movie?
Turn and talk to your neighbor and tell them about your experience. Students
can either talk about a real life experience that happened to them or how they
have seen a tornado on the news or in a movie. Class, we will be finished
talking in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Learning Design:
Teaching:
I have a question for you all. Who wants to see me build my very own tornado?
Students will raise their hands. Alright, let's do it! The tornado is going to be in
this bottle. Who believes I can do it? Let's see! I need table thunder to please
quietly go to the carpet. Table lightning. Table T-storms. Table Tornadoes. Table
Hurricanes. Great job! Now some of you think I can create a tornado in this bottle
and some of you don't think so. First, I am going to fill up the clear plastic bottle
with water. Pheobe, can you come help me pour a little bit of dish soap in my
bottle? Great job! Thank you. Next, I need Chandler to add a little bit of glitter in
the bottle. Awesome! What do you think is going to happen when I spin the bottle
in a circular motion? Give students time to make their hypothesis. Now
everyone, eyes on me and my bottle. Watch what happens when I spin the bottle
around in a circle. Someone tell me what they see? A tornado! That's correct!
Can everyone see the tornado? The teacher will walk around to all of the
students on the carpet and show them the tornado. Does it look like a real life
tornado? It worked! We made our very own tornado in a bottle!
Now look at our tornado in a bottle one more time. What shape would you
describe your tornado as? That is correct! A funnel-shape. That is what a
tornado is- a very strong funnel-shaped windstorm that starts over land. We have
been focusing on the cause and effect of these storms, and one cause of a
tornado is a violent rotating column of air extending from a thunderstorm to the
ground. Now who can guess how fast these wind can get up to? Spencer, can
you pass out a post-it note to everyone? Thank you! I want you to write your
guess on how fast the winds in a tornado can get up to. When you are done,
please bring your post-it up to the poster board. Don't forget to put your name on
the post it so I can see who is the closest. Now that everyone is done, let's see
who guessed the closest. Wow, Emily! You guessed 250. The winds of a tornado
are so fast and violent that they can reach up to 300 mph. That's even faster than
a NASCAR going around the track! Thumbs up if you think that the damages that
come from these winds are an effect of the tornado. Good, you all are correct!
This lesson actually ties in perfectly to what we learned yesterday, because we
can't have a tornado without a thunderstorm. Tornadoes form from
thunderstorms, so this is another cause. This is a main ingredient necessary to
bake a tornado. What is the word ingredient more commonly used for? Yes,
baking! In baking, you need certain ingredients to make the recipe happen.
Raise your hand if you have ever helped your mom or dad bake before? Was it
important to include all of the ingredients? Seems like we all agree that
ingredients are important to make something happen! Baking is another
example of cause and effect. The cause is us mixing all of our ingredients
together. The effect would be what came of all the ingredient missing together, a
yummy treat for us to eat! Well the effects of a tornado are like the ingredients.
Like we said before, tornadoes come from thunderstorms. So the thunderstorm
would be considered an ingredient, or an effect. Another ingredient is warm,
moist air mixed with dry air. There also needs to be a trigger that causes the
moist air to rise. Another ingredient needed for a tornado is an unstable
atmosphere. All of these "ingredients" are the effects that led to the forming the
actual tornado which, like we said, consists of winds up to 300 mph. The length
of the tornado can be from 2-6 miles. That is a huge, long storm! We want to stay
clear of that one!
The average tornadoes that are reported nationwide are 1,000 in a year.
Tornadoes can occur anywhere, but typically they happen in central United
States. Raise your hand if you have been to any of these states: Texas,
Oklahoma, Nebraska, South Dakota, Kansas, Iowa, Minnesota, or Colorado.
Students will raise their hand if they have been there. If you raised your hand,
then you have been to Tornado Valley! Let's see where these states are on a
map! The teacher will turn to the slide on the Power Point that has a visual of
Tornado Valley and the states that are included. These are the states that we
most commonly see tornados occurring.
Going back to our baking analogy, we can say we are baking cookies. But there
are many different types of cookies we could bake. It is the same thing with
tornadoes. They are all tornadoes, but that they occur on different scales of
intensity. The damages that the intensity of the storms cause, are the effects of
tornados. What are the damages? Students will repeat that they are the effects.
Good, that is important to know! The level of the tornado is determined by the
Fujita Scale. The lowest is F0 and it goes up to F5. The teacher will show the
slide with a tornado from each scale on it. It has the F initial in it for Fujita, who
established the scale. The level of the tornado takes into account the wind
speed, but ultimately is measured by how much damage it causes. The teacher
will then go to the slide with an example of the scale on it and also a link to the
video. The video is video is a 3 minute long explanation of the Fujita Scale. It
gives examples of the damages done by each level of tornado. It is very visual
and very informative. Thank you for being so attentive for that video! So we saw
that the damages looked different for every level. Who can tell me what
damages were done by a F0 tornado? Student will respond by saying there are
some damages to chimneys, smaller trees uprooted, and many branches blown
off trees. What about a F2? Student will respond by saying it takes off shingles
on roofs, mobile homes and automobiles are moved. F3? The student will
respond by saying the roofs will be torn off, houses and mobile homes are
demolished, and most trees are down. F4? The well construction houses and
torn down and cars are thrown around. F5? Strong framed houses lifted and
disintegrated, trees and debarked and uprooted, cars flying around. Wow, you
all nailed it! Keep in mind these are the effects of tornadoes. Tomorrow we will
be talking about hurricanes and how they have different scales as well!
You have to be familiar with some tornado lingo if you all are going to be safe
out there. A tornado watch is when tornadoes are possibly in your area. But if an
announcer comes on and says Tornado Warning, the tornado is either on the
ground or detected by a radar- so be careful!!
Practice:
Thank you all for listening and responding so well! Now you have until 1 to get to
your seats quietly. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Great! It is time to put our knowledge into practice.
You will be working together will your tables as a team. On your tables are 2
popsicle sticks, one with the word cause and one with the word effect. I am going
to put different facts about tornadoes up on the board. Class, you will read the
fact, discuss with your group why you think it is a cause or effect, and come to a
conclusion. When I say "Show", you will lift up the card you think is correct. The
next slide will show you the correct answer. Are there any questions before we
get started? Great, let's get started. The teacher will flip through each slide and
give students time to discuss whether they think it is a cause or effect. The
teacher will be walking around during their discussions to assess student
knowledge and see if there is an area of confusion. The game will conclude.
Students, I love how you worked together to figure out all of the actions and
reactions of tornados. You all really seem to understand tornadoes.
Assessment:
If I could have everyone put their supplies in the middle of the table and I will
come pick them up while you are completing a graphic organizer. Derek, can
you pass out this for me? This is called a Quick Write/ Quick Draw. It is in the
shape of a head! That is because I want to see what thoughts are in your head!
Does everyone have their sheet? Great! Follow along. On the left side, you are
going to do your quick draw. I want you to draw a tornado and the damages it
made. You will need to identify what shape the tornado is in and what level it is
on the Fujita Scale according to the damages it made. Any questions? Then on
the right side, you will do the quick write. I want you to give me one cause and
one effect of a tornado that we have talked about in class. Does that make sense
to everyone- thumbs up if it does? Great! You all will do fabulously on this! You
may begin.
Closure:
Ok class, it is time for out next subject. But before we move on I am going to
hand out these exit slips to you all. It has the levels in the Fujita Scale. How
many levels are there again? Good, 0-5. The sheet I'm handing out has a
section for each level and a visual to go along with it. I want you to choose a
scale that tells me how well you feel like you understand the information and
circle the tornado for that scale. A F0 is you didn't understand it at all, a F3 is you
kinda sorta get it, and F5 is you completely understood the lesson! When you
are done, you can drop it in the bag by the door as you go out. Thanks for being
great listeners today! I can't wait until we can look at hurricanes tomorrow!
Content and Resources:
PowerPoint
Clear water bottle
Water
Dish soap
Glitter
Twister clip
Projector
YouTube: Tornado Damage Levels: F0-F5
Cause and Effect signs (popsicle stick, cause cut out, effect cut out)
Post its
Exit Slips
Differentiation Strategies:
Higher Level:
-Write about what it would be like to be a storm-chaser. Students will have to
research what their job entails and how they react to tornadoes.
-Take students to see Tornado Valley IMAX movie at the McWayne Center and
write a report on the movie.
Lower Level:
-Allow the student to work with the teacher or assistant in creating his/her own
tornado in a bottle.
-Give students a vocabulary list of terms used so they are able to better
comprehend any misunderstanding
Re-teaching
Explore the website Weather Wiz: Scavenger Hunt for information
Reflection
N/A