Hurricanes are given names as a way to identify them, and these names are given in alphabetical order. Provide children with a hurricane-themed English-language arts activity that allows them to practice alphabetization. Print out the names of past hurricanes and spread them out on a flat surface in a jumbled-up order. Instruct students to sort through the names and arrange them in alphabetical order. Alternatively, encourage your students to create a list of hurricane names using the letters of the alphabet as the first letter in each hurricane name.
Weather forecasters use satellites to track hurricanes and these satellites take images of the storms from space. Show children satellite images of hurricanes and discuss the shape and the features of hurricanes. After analyzing the satellite images, encourage children to create their own images of hurricanes. Place a paper plate on the bottom of a salad spinner and place a few drops of paint on the plate. Place the cover back on the spinner and spin it around; as the plate spins inside, the paint moves about the plate in a circular motion, creating an image that is similar to a hurricane.
This activity allows children to gain an understanding of how hurricanes are formed. Fill a tea kettle with water and place it on a hot burner. Explain to children how hurricanes are formed and tell them that the burner represents the heat that is needed to create hurricanes, the water in the kettle represents the ocean and the steam that comes out of the spout of the kettle represents the hurricane.
Have your students track the path of hurricanes over the span of a five-year period. Provide children with maps that illustrate the hurricanes that have formed over the past five years and encourage them to analyze the maps. Provide students with questions that relate to the maps. For example, ask them to determine how many hurricanes made landfall, what regions were most affected by hurricanes, what hurricanes were the most powerful and how many hurricanes dissipated before making landfall.