Curriculum Resource: Learning About Hurricanes

So we've got hurricanes on the brain here.  But, as good homeschoolers do, we're just turning it into another learning opportunity!

The favorite thing I've found is an interactive application from the Sun-Sentinel newspaper in Florida (which should know about these things) called Hurricane Maker.  You can play around with the starting place of the hurricane, the wind shear, and the humidity, and see which combinations peter out before becoming a real storm, and which ones result in a major hurricane.

Do you know where the name "hurricane" comes from?  You can find that out, along with other hurricane trivia, by taking the Sun-Sentinel's Hurricane Quiz.  I happened to get that question right, but only scored 53% overall, so I obviously need to brush up my hurricane knowledge.

The Sun-Sentinel also has a bunch of information on hurricanes, which if I had read before taking the test, instead of afterwards, would have helped boost my score!

MiddleSchoolScience.com has gathered a lot of good resources on hurricanes in its Hurricane Tutorial.  Or they have an entire Hurricane Unit, with lots of PDF handouts and worksheets already created, if you are looking for a more school-like information resource.

Hope these help you and your children and/or students better understand what is going on with Hurricane Irene!