In 2019, the U.S. had 14 severe weather events (events that cost more than $1 billion each) leading to nearly $50 billion in damages. Which severe weather events can you remember or recall?
Use the link below to learn more about each individual event.
Why do you think these severe weather events happened where they did? Imagine you are going to conduct an investigation to test your idea(s). What would your investigative question be?
Choose at least one type of severe weather event to investigate further. Use the guiding questions and research links below to get started. Once you have completed your research, create a storybook, presentation, poster, or website to capture what you learned, and use it to teach others. See the two digital storybook examples from students below for reference.
Guiding Questions:
When and where did your extreme weather event occur?
Is this type of weather event common in the area it happened? If so, how many times did the weather event occur in 2019 in the United States?
How did the weather event affect the physical landscape, plants, and animals where it happened?
What effect did the weather event have on the human population? Consider the death toll, injuries, damage to property, etc.
Which of the following weather-related concepts influenced or caused your weather event? Explain what each relevant concept is, and the role it played in your extreme weather event.
Convection, Weather fronts, Humidity, Air masses, Wind, Density, Air pressure, Water cycle, Temperature
Are scientists able to predict the weather event you chose to research? If so, what tools (scientific instruments) do they use, and how to people prepare for the weather event?
Research Links
Use the following links to get started on your research. You are not limited to these resources though; feel free to do additional research on your own!
This Interactive Weather Lab is a great way to play around with different air masses and ocean currents to see how they affect the weather! You will need to click "Launch this App" to open the interactive.
Student Examples
See the examples below to give you an idea of how to set up a (digital) storybook.