Student slideshow: English  | Spanish

Teacher printout: English & Spanish

All About Drought

In this reading, students learn about droughts: what they are, why they happen, and how we can protect environments from them.

Tell your students that the people of Beachtown had a meeting to discuss the proposals your class came up with. Ask your students how they would answer these questions or address these issues. Remember: There are no right answers and it may be difficult to make everyone happy.

• Mrs. Green doesn’t like the plans that include wetlands because she thinks wetlands have lots of mosquitoes. What would you say to convince Mrs. Green that wetlands are a good idea?
• Mr. Crawford's great-great-grandfather owned the historic general store on Ocean Avenue. He says that stilts are not historically accurate. Can you protect that building without using stilts and stay within budget?
  
• Mr. Hunter is a bird watcher. He thinks you should make a nature trail through the wetlands for bird watchers. Do you have the budget for that?
  
• Suppose the town council got a federal grant to help. Now they have another $200,000 to spend and they want to protect as many ordinary (non-historic buildings) as possible. How would you revise your plan?

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