Cycle C

Topic(s): No topics assigned.

Concepts

1). Hurricanes are huge tropical storms driven by the energy stored in warm tropical ocean waters.

2). Hurricanes impact all the Earth's spheres because of their size and energy.

3). NASA and NOAA observe hurricanes in hopes of learning more about predicting their path and behaviors.

4). Atmospheric patterns are complex and varied, making hurricane prediction and study difficult.

5). A majority of Earth's inhabitants live close enough to coastal areas to be affected by tropical ocean storms.

6). Damage from hurricanes is not confined to terrestrial areas - coral reefs near shore are often affected.

7). Hurricanes damage infrastructure, housing, agriculture, and threaten lives making a single storm's impact felt for years or decades.

8). It is believed that changes in climatic conditions and global temperature will effect the number and strength of hurricanes.

Scenario: Summer 2005 was winding down when what was to become a monster storm was just beginning to brew. Hurricane Katrina started as a tropical depression in the southeastern Bahamas on August 23. By the next day it had strengthened to a tropical storm and began moving slowly on a northwesterly, then westerly track gaining strength as it moved through the warm Atlantic waters. On August 25, just a few hours before the storm hit the coast of southern Florida, Katrina became a Category 1 hurricane. Moving across the tip of the Florida peninsula in seven hours, the storm's winds slowed only slightly. As the storm hit the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico it quickly picked up speed.

As the storm moved across the Gulf of Mexico, atmospheric and sea surface conditions were perfect for fueling the storm, which exploded into a Category 5 hurricane on the morning of Sunday, August 28, with winds of 257 kilometers per hour (160 miles per hour).

Gulf Coast residents who survived Hurricane Camille in 1969, which had winds of more than 200 miles per hour, thought they had seen it all. A witness who was 12-years-old at the time, recalls "After about four hours of relentless winds and rain, all the sudden there was silence outside, dead silence! We were inside the eye of the hurricane. The center of the eye actually made landfall in Pass Christian, Mississippi, which is about 12 miles west of where we were living. That's just how huge this storm was." But Katrina, while comparable to Hurricane Camille when it was at its peak strength, was a significantly larger storm and impacted a broader area of the Gulf Coast.

When Katrina came ashore on August 29, it became one of the deadliest and costliest storms to hit the United States. The National Climatic Data Center described Katrina as "one of the strongest storms to impact the coast of the United States during the last 100 years. With sustained winds during landfall of 125 mph (110 kts; a strong category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale) and minimum central pressure the third lowest on record at landfall (920 mb)." The storm caused widespread destruction along the U.S. central Gulf Coast. Coastal cities such as New Orleans, LA, Mobile, AL, and Gulfport, MS were hardest hit. Much of the damage was caused by the storm surge and levee breaks between New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain.

Since 1995 there have been an increasing number of hurricanes, with 2005 going down in the record books with the largest number (27) of named tropical cyclones in history. The previous record (21) was in 1933.

The National Climatic Data Center reported that in 2005 "There were a record 27 named storms, of which 15 were hurricanes, exceeding the 1969 record of 12 hurricanes, and 7 were major hurricanes. Of the 7 major hurricanes, an unprecedented 4 reached category 5 status. The season was remarkable for its early beginning and number of storms as well as the intensity of the hurricanes, including the most intense hurricane on record for the Atlantic." Climate of 2006: Atlantic Hurricane Season

Are recent increases in the number and strength of hurricanes evidence of global climate change? Or are they the result of a natural climate cycle? While scientists are still studying and debating what is causing this trend, there is no doubt that these storms have a huge impact on coastal communities.

In addition to profound environmental impacts (including erosion and loss of wetlands), Hurricane Katrina was responsible for over $81 billion of property damage and is by far the costliest hurricane to ever strike the United States. It is also the third deadliest on record, with over 1,500 killed. The 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons also produced seven out of the nine costliest storms ever to affect the United States (NOAA, April 2007).

Author: Theresa Schwerin, IGES
theresa_schwerin@strategies.org
703-312-0823

Date: 7/31/2007

Scenario Images

Click here to view the movie.

Arlene to Zeta: 27 Hurricanes of the 2005 Season:
This 5-minute data visualization from NASA shows all 27 named storms of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season and examines some of the conditions that made hurricane formation so favorable. May take several minutes to load on slower connections. Tip for using in the classroom: download the animation to your computer.

NASA MODIS Image of Hurricane Katrina

When the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite captured this image of Hurricane Katrina on August 27 at 11:20 a.m. U.S. Central time, the inner eyewall had begun to deteriorate and an outer eyewall was forming. The two eyewalls are clearly visible as two concentric circles at the center of the storm. Katrina was also expanding, and by the end of the day, had doubled in size. Credit Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC

Standards:

• Science
  National Science Education Standards - Science Content Standards http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/nses/html/overview.html#content The science content standards outline what students should know, understand, and be able to do in the natural sciences over the course of K-12 education.
  • K-12 UNIFYING CONCEPTS AND PROCESSES
    The understandings and abilities associated with the following concepts and processes need to be developed throughout a student's educational experiences:
    • Evidence, models, and explanation
  • GRADES 5-8 CONTENT STANDARDS
    • Science as Inquiry (Std A)
      • Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
      • Understanding about scientific inquiry
    • Earth and Space Science (Std D)
      • Structure of the earth system
    • Science in Personal and Social Perspectives (Std F)
      • Natural hazards
  • GRADES 9-12 CONTENT STANDARDS
    • Science as Inquiry (Std A)
      • Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
      • Understanding about scientific inquiry
    • Earth and Space Science (Std D)
      • Energy in the earth system
    • Science in Personal and Social Perspectives (Std F)
      • Natural and human-induced hazards
• Geography
  Geography for Life: National Geography Standards, 1994
  • THE WORLD IN SPATIAL TERMS
    Geography studies the relationships between people, places, and environments by mapping information about them into a spatial context. The geographically informed person knows and understands:
    • How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools and technologies to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective
    • How to analyze the spatial organization of people, places, and environments on Earth’s surface
  • PHYSICAL SYSTEMS
    Physical processes shape Earth’s surface and interact with plant and animal life to create, sustain, and modify ecosystems. The geographically informed person knows and understands:
    • The physical processes that shape the patterns of Earth’s surface

Individual:

• Review the Individual Classroom Application and Rubric.
• Create or adapt activities to help your students develop the concepts you have explored in this module. You may choose to do a Local Event Analysis for extra credit this cycle and then base your Classroom Application on it. If you choose to do a local event analysis and then also develop it for your classroom application, you can satisfy this cycle's requirements and receive extra credit.
• After submitting your own classroom application to the course discussion space, recruit a classmate to rate and make comments on your classroom application. Refer to the Classroom Application Goal and Rubric.

Exploring the Environment: Severe Weather: Hurricanes (Cycle C)
This module asks student groups to track a past hurricane. Background information explains how hurricanes occur, how they are named, and the Saffir-Simpson Intensity Scale. The module is part of an on-line series from NASA's Classroom of the Future, which emphasizes an integrated approach to environmental Earth science education through problem-based learning, For grades 5-12.

Difficulty: intermediate

Stronger Hurricanes? (Cycle C)
Is global warming making hurricanes more intense? Have your students investigate this question using this online resource. The slide show, accompanied by a broadcast segment from the TV show, examines the link between rising sea surface temperature and storm intensity. The video clip is 6 minutes long. Links are also provided to a story about the 2005 Hurricane Katrina, to websites with related information, and to a teacher's guide and written transcript of the broadcast. For grades 5-12.
Difficulty: intermediate

What Could a Hurricane do to My Home? (Cycle C)
This activity guide by IGES for Grades 5-8 explores the potential for global climate change to increase the frequency and intensity of hurricanes and storm surges, and the impacts that could result. Designed to teach through scientific inquiry, the activity seeks to stimulate thought about the long-term impact of a warmer planet. The activity responds to national education standards in the English language arts, geography, social studies, mathematics, and science. For grades 5-8.
Difficulty: intermediate

ILT Publications (Cycle C)
See the readings on pedagogy and technology.

MY NASA DATA (Cycle C)
NASA has developed microsets of Earth science data for K-12 education, which can be used with existing curriculum and enable students to practice math skills using real measurements of Earth system variables and processes.

The microsets are created using data from NASA Earth science satellite missions and provide information on the atmosphere, ocean and land surface. New data types continue to be added to the collection. Data is available online along with K-12 lesson plans, computer tools and an Earth science glossary.

Use the Live Access Server to create your own microsets of NASA data. The LAS contains over 128 parameters in atmospheric and Earth science from five NASA scientific projects Click here for an overview of the parameters and time period available.

The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense United States Tropical Cyclones From 1851 (Cycle C)
This technical memorandum from NOAA/National Weather Service ranks hurricane damage, as expressed by monetary losses (contemporary estimates adjusted by inflation to 2000 dollars and estimates adjusted for inflation and the growth of population and personal wealth). In addition, the most intense hurricanes to make landfall in the United States during the 1900-2006 are listed.

TRMM Sees Rain from Hurricanes Fall Around the World (Cycle C)
NASA Press Release from 2004 about the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM).