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LESSON PLAN 3: Be Tornado Safe Tornadoes will dip down from the clouds whenever weather conditions are right. Nothing we can do will turn a tornado in a different direction, make it a single minute shorter or lessen its power. However, when students and families know how to prepare for tornadoes and how to respond to them, they can be safer if a tornado occurs. Key Terms and Concepts debris funnel cloud hail Purposes To enable students to distinguish between a tornado WATCH and a tornado WARNING To explore the weather to recognize the clues that indicate a possible tornado To show students when and how to take cover and the importance of a safe place Objectives The students will— Use information from the Weather Clues transparency sheets to recognize the weather clues for possible tornadoes. Demonstrate the look and sound of specific weather clues listed on the Weather Clues transparency sheets. Discuss the importance of weather clues as important warnings of possible danger. Role-play their assigned weather clues from the handout. Use music to examine the feelings storms may elicit. (Linking Across the Curriculum) Observe, describe and chart the daily weather and make predic- tions about upcoming storms. (Linking Across the Curriculum) Add all the clues to the Weather Clues drawing; write a story describing changing weather. (Linking Across the Curriculum) Distinguish between a tornado WATCH and a tornado WARNING. Color and cut out pictures on Safe Place and then order them from the least safe to the safest. Tornadoes K-2 Tornado Safety 1 Masters of Disaster ® Tornadoes, Tornado Safety, Lesson Plan 3/Be Tornado Safe Copyright 2007 The American National Red Cross Visit the American Red Cross Web site at www.redcross.org/disaster/masters safe place thunderstorm tornado tornado WARNING tornado WATCH

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Page 1: Be Tornado Safe - NIEonline · Be Tornado Safe Tornadoes will dip down from the clouds whenever weather conditions are right. Nothing we can do will turn a tornado in a different

LESSON PLAN 3:

Be Tornado SafeTornadoes will dip down from the clouds whenever weather conditionsare right. Nothing we can do will turn a tornado in a different direction,make it a single minute shorter or lessen its power. However, whenstudents and families know how to prepare for tornadoes and how torespond to them, they can be safer if a tornado occurs.

Key Terms and Concepts

debrisfunnel cloudhail

Purposes

To enable students to distinguish between a tornado WATCH and atornado WARNING

To explore the weather to recognize the clues that indicate apossible tornado

To show students when and how to take cover and the importanceof a safe place

Objectives

The students will—• Use information from the Weather Clues transparency sheets to

recognize the weather clues for possible tornadoes.

• Demonstrate the look and sound of specific weather clues listedon the Weather Clues transparency sheets.

• Discuss the importance of weather clues as important warnings ofpossible danger.

• Role-play their assigned weather clues from the handout.

• Use music to examine the feelings storms may elicit. (LinkingAcross the Curriculum)

• Observe, describe and chart the daily weather and make predic-tions about upcoming storms. (Linking Across the Curriculum)

• Add all the clues to the Weather Clues drawing; write a storydescribing changing weather. (Linking Across the Curriculum)

• Distinguish between a tornado WATCH and a tornadoWARNING.

• Color and cut out pictures on Safe Place and then order themfrom the least safe to the safest.

Tornadoes K-2

Tornado Safety

1Masters of Disaster® Tornadoes, Tornado Safety, Lesson Plan 3/Be Tornado SafeCopyright 2007 The American National Red Cross

Visit the American Red Cross Web site at www.redcross.org/disaster/masters

safe placethunderstormtornado

tornado WARNINGtornado WATCH

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Tornadoes K–2

LESSON PLAN 3

Be Tornado Safe

• Review what a safe place means for a tornado WATCH and aWARNING.

• Discuss what to do if a tornado threatens, based on the handoutWARNING: Act Fast.

• Review WARNING: Act Fast with their families; work with familymembers to set up safe places in their homes. (Home Connection)

• Participate in a drill to practice safe place plans at school, assessperformance and set up a schedule to improve performance.

• Make and use stick puppets to use in telling stories about staying safe.(Linking Across the Curriculum)

• Plan and carry out a tornado drill for the entire school. (LinkingAcross the Curriculum)

• Read “The Afternoon Tornado” at the Web site of the FederalEmergency Management Agency for children (FEMA for Kids) andapply knowledge about tornado safety to events in the story. (LinkingAcross the Curriculum)

• Take the Tornado Quiz on the Web site FEMA for Kids (LinkingAcross the Curriculum)

Activities

“Weather Clues”

“Play It Safe”

2Masters of Disaster® Tornadoes, Tornado Safety, Lesson Plan 3/Be Tornado SafeCopyright 2007 The American National Red Cross

Visit the American Red Cross Web site at www.redcross.org/disaster/masters

Page 3: Be Tornado Safe - NIEonline · Be Tornado Safe Tornadoes will dip down from the clouds whenever weather conditions are right. Nothing we can do will turn a tornado in a different

Tornadoes K–2

LESSON PLAN 3

Be Tornado Safe

3

Materials

• Construction paper or posterboard

• Markers or crayons

• Cotton balls

• Hole punch

• String

• Weather Clues, 1 copy perstudent

• Weather Clues transparencysheets

“Weather Clues”

SET UP 25 minutes CONDUCT 30 minutes

Science: Earth Science; Fine Arts: Drama

Help the students learn tornado weather clues.

1. Ask the students if they have ever experienced a tornado. If so, how didthe sky look? What sounds did they hear before the tornado toucheddown?

2. Use the Weather Clues transparency sheets to help the students under-stand the weather clues for possible tornadoes.

• Dark, often greenish or yellow skySometimes clouds in a storm look green or yellow because ofhail.

• Strong thunderstorm with hailHail is ice that forms within thunderstorm clouds. Hail stonescan be as small as a pea or as large as an orange.

• Funnel cloudFunnel clouds are tube-shaped clouds that are wide at the topand narrow at the bottom. Funnel clouds hang straight downfrom the base of the storm cloud. If the tip of the funnel cloudtouches the earth, it is a tornado.

• Cloud of debrisApproaching wind clouds near the ground may be filled withdebris—paper, leaves, dirt and trash. Sometimes you can tell thelocation of a tornado from the debris without seeing an actualfunnel cloud.

• Roaring noiseThe high winds of a tornado can cause a roar that is oftencompared to the sound of a freight train, a million angry bees ora thousand jet engines.

• TornadoA tornado is a dark, swirling wind with a funnel shape. It candestroy anything in its path.

3. Discuss with students:• By paying close attention, weather clues may warn them of

possible danger.

• All weather clues do not have to be present to have a tornado.When one or more of these indicators of severe weather ispresent, it is time to take action.

Masters of Disaster® Tornadoes, Tornado Safety, Lesson Plan 3/Be Tornado SafeCopyright 2007 The American National Red Cross

Visit the American Red Cross Web site at www.redcross.org/disaster/masters

TEACHING NOTE Prepare transparencies of all the pages listed as Weather Cluestransparency sheets. For great visuals, use Tornadoes by Charles Rotter (TheCreative Education Co., 1997).

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Tornadoes K–2

LESSON PLAN 3

Be Tornado Safe

• Tornadoes may happen so quickly that WATCHES and WARN-INGS cannot be issued long in advance.

4. Divide the class into six groups, each representing one of the weatherclues. Distribute Weather Clues and have the students illustrate theappearances or the sounds of their weather clues. Use the hole punchand string to make their pictures into identity tags worn around theirnecks for a role play.

5. Set up the role play. Instruct each group to be ready to represent itsweather clue.

6. Before the role play begins, ask one student from each group to act as anarrator during the role play to describe each weather clue as it rolls in.

Wrap-Up

Conduct the role play by cueing the groups in theorder of the clues on the transparencies.

During the role play, interrupt to act as a meteorologist and deliver atornado WATCH or a WARNING for your community. Use the role playaction as your cue. For example—

• Communities just outside town have reported hail the size of golfballs and dark green skies. A tornado WATCH is in effect.

• A tornado has touched down 20 miles outside town. A tornadoWARNING is in effect.

Linking Across the Curriculum

Health: Personal SafetyHow does the type of weather represented in the role play make

them feel? What can they do when they see this type of storm approaching?

Science: Earth ScienceObservation is the key to good science. Have the students begin a weatherobservation chart in the classroom or as individuals. Each morning andafternoon, ask the students to describe the weather outside. Based on theirdescriptions, can they tell if a storm is on its way? In what ways do weatherobservations help them? (They know what to wear, whether they need anumbrella, a coat or an extra sweater. They know whether or not to makeplans for outdoor play.)

4Masters of Disaster® Tornadoes, Tornado Safety, Lesson Plan 3/Be Tornado SafeCopyright 2007 The American National Red Cross

Visit the American Red Cross Web site at www.redcross.org/disaster/masters

TEACHING NOTE You may want to play storm music as the students talk abouttheir feelings about storms. Examples:

• A Night on Bald Mountain by Modest Mussorgsky• The Storm Movement of Symphony No. 6 by Ludwig van Beethoven• The piano sonata “The Tempest” by Beethoven

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Tornadoes K–2

LESSON PLAN 3

Be Tornado Safe

5

Language Arts: Writing; Fine Arts: Visual ArtsHave the students complete their Weather Clues drawing by adding all theclues shown on the transparency, including the tornado that touches down.Work with students to write a class story that describes the changingweather and the tornado’s final approach.

Masters of Disaster® Tornadoes, Tornado Safety, Lesson Plan 3/Be Tornado SafeCopyright 2007 The American National Red Cross

Visit the American Red Cross Web site at www.redcross.org/disaster/masters

Page 6: Be Tornado Safe - NIEonline · Be Tornado Safe Tornadoes will dip down from the clouds whenever weather conditions are right. Nothing we can do will turn a tornado in a different

Tornadoes K–2

LESSON PLAN 3

Be Tornado Safe

Materials

• The Three Little Pigs

• Safe Place, 1 copy per student

• Crayons or markers

• Scissors

• WARNING: Act Fast, 1 copyper student

“Play It Safe”

SET UP 15 minutes CONDUCT 40 minutes

Language Arts: Reading; Health: Personal Safety; Fine Arts: Visual Arts

1. Read or tell the story The Three Little Pigs. Have the students discusswhy the first two pigs were not safe from the powerful blowing of thewolf (inferior materials used to build the houses, poor workmanship andpowerful winds).

2. Explain to the students that—• A tornado WATCH is issued when there is a possibility that

thunderstorms could produce a tornado.

• A tornado WARNING is issued when a tornado has beenspotted in the area.

Have the students decide when a “wolf watch” and a “wolf warning”could have been issued to the three little pigs.

3. Distribute Safe Place. Have the students color and cut out the pictures.Afterward, have them put the pictures in order from the least safe to thesafest during a tornado.

Remember, tents and mobile homes are dangerous places to be during astorm. People in tents and mobile homes need to go to a safe place whenthere is the threat of a tornado.

4. Remind the students that, if a tornado WATCH is issued, they need toknow where their safe place is and they need to stay tuned to a localradio or television station for weather reports. If a tornado WARNING isissued, they need to act fast to reach a safe place.

6Masters of Disaster® Tornadoes, Tornado Safety, Lesson Plan 3/Be Tornado SafeCopyright 2007 The American National Red Cross

Visit the American Red Cross Web site at www.redcross.org/disaster/masters

TEACHING NOTE Tornadoes are nature’s most violent storms. Their winds candevastate an area in seconds. In this activity you will help the students characterize asafe place to go when a tornado threatens.

TEACHING NOTE If your community uses a siren for tornado warnings, introducethe topic in this activity.

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Tornadoes K–2

LESSON PLAN 3

Be Tornado Safe

7

5. Distribute copies of WARNING: Act Fast. Have the students follow thepictures and captions as the class discusses what to do in case of atornado WARNING.

Wrap-Up

Have a tornado drill to let the students practice theschool’s safe-place plan. Discuss with them thesuccess of their drill.

• Did they follow directions quickly?

• Were they quiet enough to hear any new directions from theirteacher?

• How long did it take them to complete the drill?

Work with the class to determine ways they could improve their successand make a plan to continue practicing in order to reach their goal.

Home Connection

Have the students take home WARNING: Act Fast to review withtheir families. Have families use the information to plan their

safe place together.

Linking Across the Curriculum

Language Arts: Writing; Fine Arts: Visual ArtsFor this activity you will need greeting cards or magazines, glue

and ice-cream sticks.Have small groups of students cut out characters from old greeting cardsand magazines. They will glue these characters onto wooden sticks and usethem to tell a story about staying safe during a tornado. Story ideas couldinclude heroic or frightened animals in a storm or an action story aboutcharacters with and without a safety plan.

Masters of Disaster® Tornadoes, Tornado Safety, Lesson Plan 3/Be Tornado SafeCopyright 2007 The American National Red Cross

Visit the American Red Cross Web site at www.redcross.org/disaster/masters

TEACHING NOTE Make the point that, in case of a tornado, people will go imme-diately to a safe place and then protect themselves by dropping to the floor orground and protecting their heads and necks with their arms.

TEACHING NOTE Each school building is different, so administrators can consultan expert, such as a structural engineer or the school architect, to determine thesafest areas in the school during a tornado. Students in transportable classroomsmust go inside a sturdy building in case of tornado. In general, avoid rooms withlarge roof spans, such as auditoriums, cafeterias and gymnasiums.

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Tornadoes K–2

LESSON PLAN 3

Be Tornado Safe

Social Studies: CivicsPlan a tornado drill for the school. Have the students share the school planswith other classes, demonstrating the safe position and explaining whereeach class will go. Set up a surprise time for the drill and ask administra-tors to grade the students on how well they followed directions.

Social Studies: Civics; Fine Arts: Visual ArtsDiscuss places students go besides home and school, for example, the mall,the park, a friend’s house or the roller rink. Discuss safety plans for theseplaces. Then, have student groups choose a place they actually visit andillustrate a safety plan for it.

Language Arts: Reading; Science: Earth Science; Health: PersonalSafety

Visit FEMA for Kids—Tornadoes (http://www.fema.gov/kids/tornado.htm). Click “Julie and Robbie, The Disaster Twins” andprint the page or use an LCD projector to share the story withthe students. Discuss the story with the class. What clues did

Julie and Robbie see that made them think a tornado might be near? Whatactions did they take to make sure they were safe until the tornado passed?

After the discussion, you may want to test your students’ knowledge oftornado safety with the Tornado Quiz from the same site. Click “A Kid’sGuide to Tornadoes and Preventing Disaster Damage” (third topic down theleft side bar) and then click “Tornado Quiz.” You can print the quiz todistribute to the students or, more informally, simply ask students eachquestion and let them work as a class to decide the answers.

8Masters of Disaster® Tornadoes, Tornado Safety, Lesson Plan 3/Be Tornado SafeCopyright 2007 The American National Red Cross

Visit the American Red Cross Web site at www.redcross.org/disaster/masters

Page 9: Be Tornado Safe - NIEonline · Be Tornado Safe Tornadoes will dip down from the clouds whenever weather conditions are right. Nothing we can do will turn a tornado in a different

Weather CluesPage 1 of 7

Name ________________________________________________________________________

WEATHER CLUESMasters of Disaster® Tornadoes, Tornado Safety, Lesson Plan 3/Be Tornado Safe

Copyright 2007 The American National Red Cross

Visit the American Red Cross Web site at www.redcross.org/disaster/masters

Dark, often greenish or yellow sky.

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Weather CluesPage 2 of 7

WEATHER CLUESMasters of Disaster® Tornadoes, Tornado Safety, Lesson Plan 3/Be Tornado Safe

Copyright 2007 The American National Red Cross

Visit the American Red Cross Web site at www.redcross.org/disaster/masters

Strong thunderstorm with hail.

Page 11: Be Tornado Safe - NIEonline · Be Tornado Safe Tornadoes will dip down from the clouds whenever weather conditions are right. Nothing we can do will turn a tornado in a different

Weather CluesPage 3 of 7

WEATHER CLUESMasters of Disaster® Tornadoes, Tornado Safety, Lesson Plan 3/Be Tornado Safe

Copyright 2007 The American National Red Cross

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Funnel cloud.

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Weather CluesPage 4 of 7

WEATHER CLUESMasters of Disaster® Tornadoes, Tornado Safety, Lesson Plan 3/Be Tornado Safe

Copyright 2007 The American National Red Cross

Visit the American Red Cross Web site at www.redcross.org/disaster/masters

Cloud of debris.

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Weather CluesPage 5 of 7

WEATHER CLUESMasters of Disaster® Tornadoes, Tornado Safety, Lesson Plan 3/Be Tornado Safe

Copyright 2007 The American National Red Cross

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Roaring noise.

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Weather CluesPage 6 of 7

WEATHER CLUESMasters of Disaster® Tornadoes, Tornado Safety, Lesson Plan 3/Be Tornado Safe

Copyright 2007 The American National Red Cross

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Tornado.

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Weather CluesPage 7 of 7

WEATHER CLUESMasters of Disaster® Tornadoes, Tornado Safety, Lesson Plan 3/Be Tornado Safe

Copyright 2007 The American National Red Cross

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Directions: Draw what your weather clue looks orsounds like.

Page 16: Be Tornado Safe - NIEonline · Be Tornado Safe Tornadoes will dip down from the clouds whenever weather conditions are right. Nothing we can do will turn a tornado in a different

Safe PlacePage 1 of 1

Name ________________________________________________________________________

SAFE PLACEMasters of Disaster® Tornadoes, Tornado Safety, Lesson Plan 3/Be Tornado Safe

Copyright 2007 The American National Red Cross

Visit the American Red Cross Web site at www.redcross.org/disaster/masters

Directions: Color and cut out the pictures. Then, put them in orderfrom LEAST safe to safest during a tornado.

Page 17: Be Tornado Safe - NIEonline · Be Tornado Safe Tornadoes will dip down from the clouds whenever weather conditions are right. Nothing we can do will turn a tornado in a different

Directions: Use the information below toplan a “safe place” with your family in case of a tornado.

Go to a safe place. Drop and cover your head and neck.

If you are outside, go inside.

If you are stuck outside,lie down in a ditch.

WARNING: Act FastPage 1 of 2

Name ________________________________________________________________________

WARNING: ACT FASTMasters of Disaster® Tornadoes, Tornado Safety, Lesson Plan 3/Be Tornado Safe

Copyright 2007 The American National Red Cross

Visit the American Red Cross Web site at www.redcross.org/disaster/masters

Page 18: Be Tornado Safe - NIEonline · Be Tornado Safe Tornadoes will dip down from the clouds whenever weather conditions are right. Nothing we can do will turn a tornado in a different

Go to a safe place. Drop and cover your headand neck.

In a closet or hallway.

In a storm cellar.In a bathroom.

Under the stairs or workbench.

WARNING: Act FastPage 2 of 2

WARNING: ACT FASTMasters of Disaster® Tornadoes, Tornado Safety, Lesson Plan 3/Be Tornado Safe

Copyright 2007 The American National Red Cross

Visit the American Red Cross Web site at www.redcross.org/disaster/masters