Video: 'Hurricane Hunters' save lives I Reach Out Reporter

Feature

09/12/2019

Hurricanes are storms that can cause lots of damage. Discover why meteorologists fly straight into hurricanes!

Transcript

Brace yourself—there’s a hurricane on the way.

Wind speeds can top 155 miles an hour, as fast as a race car.

And the rainfall is relentless.

These powerful storms can last several weeks, getting bigger and stronger as they move across the ocean.

And if they hit land, they can flatten buildings, flood streets and put lives at risk.

The more we can learn about a hurricane as it starts to grow, the better we can prepare for it.

That’s why this guy is about to fly a plane into the middle of one.

meteorologist

Jason Dunion is a meteorologist—a scientist who studies the weather.

He’s part of a team of hurricane hunters, who fly into storms to find out more about them.

eye

They’ll have to go all the way to the center of the storm, called the eye, then back out the other side.

As you’d expect, it’s a bumpy flight!

The further they go, the more the plane gets knocked around by wind and rain until suddenly, they reach the eye of the storm.

Jason Dunion, Meteorologist – "Pop through that eye wall and it’s incredible. You’re in what looks like a football stadium, maybe the biggest one you’ve ever seen. It can be 10, 20, 30 miles across. And it’s very still. But of course, you’re only through half the storm, and you’re still halfway through to go."

The team stays in the air for up to 10 hours, taking measurements to work out the hurricane’s strength and direction.

forecast

This information can then be used to predict what the hurricane will do next—known as a forecast.

Accurate forecasts save lives, giving people on the ground time to take shelter or evacuate.

So, while everyone else tries to stay out of the way of storms, the hurricane hunters fly straight towards them, on a mission to learn more about these incredible forces of nature.

Hurricanes are powerful storms.

Homepage
Hurricane Hunters

Teaching overview

Learning points

Hurricanes are powerful storms that can cause a lot of damage.
The center of a hurricane is called the eye.
Meteorologists are scientists who study the weather.
Forecasts enable people to prepare for severe weather events such as hurricanes.

Curriculum keywords

Weather systems
Meteorologist
Water systems
Weather forecast

Spark a discussion

What is a hurricane?
Where do hurricanes occur? How do they form?
Why do you think hurricanes affect some places and not others?
How do we predict the weather?
Why is it important to predict the weather?
How do hurricanes affect people?
How can we predict hurricanes?
How else could we study hurricanes?
What is the center of the hurricane called? Can you describe it?
What kind of skills do you think a meteorologist needs to have?

Multimedia toolbox

Eye of a hurricane

Play this clip as the students enter the classroom to spark a discussion about hurricanes.

Sound of a hurricane

Play this clip before the video to spark a discussion about the students’ experiences of stormy weather.

Clouds

Show this visual before the video and discuss the differences between the two satellite images.

Hurricane keywords

Show this visual after the video and ask the students to use the keywords as part of a short presentation or written summary on hurricanes.

Meteorologist

A scientist who monitors the weather and predicts its behavior.

Meteorologist

Show this visual after the video to reinforce key scientific language.

Activities

Make a hurricane

CREATE a model hurricane using water and food coloring, to demonstrate the way winds swirl around the eye.

Open detailed instructions

Other activity ideas

DESIGN a public information poster or leaflet that advises a community on how to prepare for a hurricane.
RESEARCH how and why hurricanes are given names.
WRITE a news report about a major hurricane, including information about what happened, the short- and long-term effects, and the use of technology in predicting or responding to the hurricane.

Print this sheet

Make a hurricane

Duration: 30 minutes

Resources:

(per group)
Bowl
Warm water
Food coloring
Stirring stick
Shaving foam

Key Learning:

This activity asks the students to make a model hurricane. This will support their understanding of the internal movements and physical features of real hurricanes. It also boosts their observational skills and requires them to present information as a scientific diagram.

Activity instructions:

Ask the students to answer the following questions in groups:

Have you ever watched water as it goes down a plughole?
What shape does water make around the plughole?
What happens when the water gets closer to the plughole?

Discuss the students’ answers and then relate their observations to the features of a hurricane: the water forms a spiral shape around the plughole, similar to the way that winds spin around the eye of a hurricane.
Give each group the resources. Safety note: Be mindful about the temperature of the water and do not use metal or sharp objects as stirring sticks.
Ask the groups to stir the water gently in the center of the bowl. Once the water is spinning in the center they should stop stirring.
Ask one student in each group to carefully pour a few droplets of food coloring in the center of the bowl, and observe what happens. They should be able to see a spiral shape, with the colored water spinning around a center point. Note: The students could use more than one color to observe these movements.
Ask the groups to place small amounts of shaving foam on top of the water, to represent clouds. Tell them to stir the water again, and observe the movement of the “clouds”. They should notice that the foam moves in a circle around the center of the spiral.
Discuss the groups’ observations as a class. You can ask the following prompt questions:

What shapes did you observe?
How did the “clouds” move?
How does this demonstration relate to real hurricanes?

Encourage the groups to identify the different parts of their “hurricanes”, such as the center (the eye) and the surrounding winds. Ask the students to describe their hurricane’s visible properties, and compare their model hurricane to the other groups’ models.
Ask the students to make a record of their observations by drawing a scientific diagram. They should add labels and annotations to relate their diagrams to the shape and structure of a real hurricane.

Optional extra

Challenge the students to conduct further research on hurricane formation, and then add additional information to their diagrams.

Background information

Hurricanes are tropical storms with constant wind speeds of over 119 kilometers per hour.
Hurricanes form over warm water, when warm, moist air rises, leaving an area of low pressure near the water’s surface.
Air flowing into the area of low pressure is also warmed; it rises, and a cycle of upward-moving warm air is created.
The calm center of a hurricane is called the eye. The eye is surrounded by the eye wall, where the winds are at their strongest.
Hurricanes form over the Caribbean, East Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean. In the Indian and western Pacific oceans, this type of storm is known as a typhoon.

Glossary

Hurricane: A tropical storm with constant wind speeds of over 119 kilometers per hour.
Eye: The center of the hurricane around which the winds rotate.
Meteorologist: A scientist who monitors the weather and predicts its behavior.

Hurricane Hunters

Transcript

Teaching overview

Learning points

Curriculum keywords

Spark a discussion

Multimedia toolbox

Eye of a hurricane

Sound of a hurricane

Clouds

Hurricane keywords

Meteorologist

Activities

Make a hurricane

Other activity ideas

Make a hurricane

Resources:

Key Learning:

Activity instructions:

Optional extra

Background information

Glossary

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