SCIENCE BOX OVERVIEW
Kit #25
Name: “Project Safeside”
Grade Level: 4-8
Content Strand: Earth & Space Sciences
Content Standard and Description: Cycles of Matter and Energy – Students will investigate meteorological phenomena such as flooding, hurricanes, tornados, extreme heat, and winter storms.
Summary: “Project Safeside” is an initiative of The Weather Channel and The American Red Cross that prepares both students and the general public for the before, during, and after effects of severe weather conditions. The “Safeside” program is a natural supplement to the study of weather in the classroom. This project has hands-on, cross curricular, and safety projects as well as recommendations for extension activities.
Learning Cycle Lesson Plans: Here is the list of the lesson plans in this kit.
1. “Prior Knowledge: Understanding Local Weather Patterns – Students will connect the importance of your area’s physical geography with that of local weather patterns.
2. “Creating Community Awareness” – The students will plan, create, present, and implement a weather safety project based on inclement weather conditions found in your area.
3. “Community Action Plan for Severe Weather Safety” – Students will be introduced to local disaster plans and proper emergency procedures, as directed by community emergency management professionals.
4. “Unit Assessment” – Students will summarize their weather safety unit by simulating the duties of a junior emergency management team during a mock severe weather situation.
What to Expect: By the end of fifth grade after using this kit teachers can expect their students to know how to investigate and describe various meteorological phenomena (e.g. flooding, thunderstorms, and drought). By the end of seventh grade, students will be able to explain, using weather maps, the weather that occurs near boundaries between air masses. Also be able to describe the formation and types of clouds and how these cloud types are associated with particular kinds of fronts. Finally, they will be able to explain the relationship between temperature, moisture, and origin of air masses (e.g. air masses that form over land tend to be dry; air masses that form in Polar Regions tend to be cold).
Evaluations: Here is what other teachers have said about this box.
1. “Well done, there was a wonderful choice of lessons and activities. An air mass of materials!”