Hurricanes Unit Labs

Grades9, 10, 11, 12Chemistry, Physics, Earth and Space Sciences

Provided by TERC

What it is

In this series of nine labs about hurricanes, students will study satellite imagery, videos, and animated visualizations, learn about weather systems, air pressure, and heat transfer, and access a live hurricane tracker tool.
Each lab can be divided up into smaller sections and many can be completed individually in a flipped classroom format.
Students will analyze data from hurricanes, including Hurricane Katrina.

Positives

There are so many great labs to choose from and they include assessments to check for understanding.
Key questions and learning objectives are outlined in the teacher pages.

Prerequisites

Review teacher resources for general background information relevant to each lab.
Students will need access to the Internet.
Teachers will need to prepare materials for the learning stations.

Differentiation & Implementation

Social studies classes could use some of these labs to connect to topics such as sea level rise, climate justice, and climate migration.
Science classes can use these labs to connect to various topics in chemistry, physics, and Earth science classes.
Biology classes can connect these labs with lessons about ecosystems, the greenhouse effect, biomes, and natural disasters.

Students will have proficiency in interpreting and analyzing weather data from satellite imagery. This resource is recommended for teaching.

Hosted on serc.carleton.edu

Add your location for local examples, questions, and action ideas.

Grades: 9, 10, 11, 12
Subjects: Chemistry, Physics, Earth and Space Sciences
Other types: Videos, Data, Graphs, and Maps, Assessments, Activity - Classroom, Worksheets, Interactive Media, Experiments
Format: PDF, Microsoft Excel, Downloadable MP4/M4V
Language: English
Location: Earth
Provider: TERC
Authors: TERC, Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College (SERC)
Published: April 27, 2021
Last updated: July 16, 2026
: Reviewed by our climate scientists How we review

Standards alignment · CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.4 + 9 more

Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.4Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language of a court opinion differs from that of a newspaper).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.10By the end of grade 9, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 9-10 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range. By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend literary nonfiction at the high end of the grades 9-10 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.2Determine two or more central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to provide a complex analysis; provide an objective summary of the text.

Common Core Math Standards (CCSS.MATH)

Connecticut Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

HS-PS1-5.Apply scientific principles and evidence to provide an explanation about the effects of changing the temperature or concentration of the reacting particles on the rate at which a reaction occurs.
HS-ESS2-3.Develop a model based on evidence of Earth’s interior to describe the cycling of matter by thermal convection.
HS-ESS2-4.Use a model to describe how variations in the flow of energy into and out of Earth’s systems result in changes in climate.
HS-ESS2-D.3.Changes in the atmosphere due to human activity have increased carbon dioxide concentrations and thus affect climate. (HS-ESS2-6)
HS-ESS3-1.Construct an explanation based on evidence for how the availability of natural resources, occurrence of natural hazards, and changes in climate have influenced human activity.
HS-ETS1-4.Use a computer simulation to model the impact of proposed solutions to a complex real-world problem with numerous criteria and constraints on interactions within and between systems relevant to the problem.