Lesson Plan - Hunting Hurricanes

Watch a Video: What You Need to Know About Hurricanes
Ask: Which fact about hurricanes do you find most surprising or interesting? Why?

Preview Words to Know
Project the online vocabulary slideshow and introduce the Words to Know. 

• meteorologists
• intensity

Set a Purpose for Reading
Note the “As You Read” question. Have students think about how hurricane hunters keep people safe.

1. What contrast does the author draw between hurricane hunters and other pilots?
The author notes that most other pilots try to avoid dangerous weather. But for hurricane hunters, flying toward powerful storms is part of the job.
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2. Describe the steps hurricane hunters take to help keep people safe.
Hurricane hunters drop instruments called dropsondes into a storm to record the temperature, wind speed, wind direction, and other information. Then they send the data to the National Hurricane Center, where experts use it to predict a storm’s path and decide whether people should be told to evacuate.
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3. What are some challenges that hurricane hunters face?
Their flights are long and often at night, when it’s hard to see. Their planes get jostled by the wind.
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FEATURED SKILL: Text Features
Use the Skill Builder “Use Text Features” to have students evaluate how headings, photos, and other nonfiction text features contribute to understanding.
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