Materials: The Magic School Bus: Inside A Hurricane  (6 copies)   Paper, pencils, computer with internet access

Pre-reading

I. In your groups, discuss hurricanes.  What are hurricanes?  Where do they come from?  Have you personally seen a hurricane or know of someone who has?  How did he/she describe it?  What is the weather like during a hurricane?  What are some safety precautions one should take during a hurricane.

II.  The book, The Magic School Bus: Inside A Hurricane focuses on how a hurricane is formed.  The formation of a hurricane is a slow process. Go to the following website to find out more. How a hurricane works.

III.  Fill out a KWL chart.  Fill in the K for what you know about hurricanes, and the W for what you want to know about hurricanes.  The L will be filled out at the end of the activity, where you will write what you learned about hurricanes.

Reading Activity

I. Throughout the story, stop at the designated stopping points and make a list of predictions. Stopping points will be marked in your book b your teacher.

Stopping Points

1: Page 5

-What types of things do you think the children will seeat the weather station?
-Why do you think Ms. Frizzle is turning the dial on the dashboard?
-What do you think the bus is going to change into?

-How close were your predictions to being right?
-What do you think the class will see inside the cloud?
-What type of weather do you think the class will see in the clouds?

3: Page 17

-Recheck your predictions; were they correct?
-What do you think will happen after the class jumps out of the balloon? Will they be safe, or will they get hurt?
-What do you think they will see as they are falling through the sky?

-What did they see when outside of the balloon, and were they safe?
-Who do you think is missing from the bus?
-Do you think they will rescue the missing person? Who do you think will rescue him?

-Who was the missing person, and who rescue them?
-Why is the eye of the hurricane so calm?
-Will the weather change when they leave the eye? How?
-Do you think the hurricane will reach land? If so, what will happen?

-How close were your predictions?
-Do you think the bus will run out of gas before they make it to a gas station?
-What do you think the dark funnel shape, coming towardsthem is?
-What do you think the dark funnel shape will do to their bus?

-Recheck predictions, and discuss which ones you wereright about.

Post-reading Activities

#1: Print a copy of the worksheet, Disaster Supply Kit. Create your own kit by using information from A Family Disaster Plan. Then click on each supply and learn the importance of each. Write a brief explanation explaining the importance of each supply in your kit.
 

Beyond What You Read

Learn to track a hurricane: Click on "Killer Storms" and learn to track a real hurricane!!!

How do hurricanes get their names? http://www.fema.gov/kids/hunames.htm