Public Service Announcement: Storm Edition
Introduction
Congratulations, the National Weather Service would like your team to write and publish a Public Service Announcement! A public service announcement or P.S.A. is kind of like a commercial, but it is not trying to sell anything. Instead, the commercial tries to inform the public and raise awareness about an issue. Your P.S.A. will inform citizens how to safe before and during the natural disaster.
Driving Question
How can we protect ourselves and others from natural disasters?
Tasks
Each team will:
- Write a 30-90 seconds Public Service Announcement explaining what people can do to stay safe before and during a specific natural disaster.
- Record and publish the Public Service Announcement .
- Create and publish a presentation on the topic (poster, Powerpoint, Google Presentation, Prezi, etc).
Extension: Explore the topic further with a lab or project
Research
It is assumed that already have some background knowledge about the atmosphere and weather. This part of the project is aimed at you becoming an expert on one of the topics. You can learn about weather and other storm background information by using your textbook, links, videos, and experts. Make sure you cite sources.
Research your specific natural disaster and answer the questions below. All students need to complete these questions though you may work with teammates to find the answers. Site the source where you found each answer. (Record this information in your Science Notebook or submit a file to Moodle)
1. What are characteristics of the natural disaster?
2. What is a Watch?
3. What is a Warning?
4. What are the danger signs of this natural disaster?
5. What was the most memorable historical incident involving the natural disaster studied? When did it occur?
6. Where else has the natural disaster occurred?
7. What are some safety tips BEFORE and DURING the natural disaster?
Resources
Here are some links that may be of help with your research. You will have to look around on these websites. Sources need to be cited on the back of your poster.
- National Weather Service (http://www.nws.noaa.gov/safety.php)
- NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory (http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/primer/)
- FEMA (http://www.fema.gov/kids)
- FLASH Federal (http://www.flash.org)
- National Geographic Natural Disasters website
- Ready.gov website
- National Geographic Forces of Nature website
- BBC Animated Guide to Natural Disasters website
- Weather and Climate textbook
- CK-12 Online Textbook
- Floods Article
! DRAFT BELOW HERE!
Objectives
Students will be able to identify natural disasters and their characteristics.
Students will be able to identify where specific natural disasters occur.
Students will be able to describe methods of predicting natural disasters.
Students will learn how to prepare for disasters and what to do when they occur.
Standards
NRC Framework for K-12 Science Education Standards
http://www7.nationalacademies.org/bose/Standards_Framework_Homepage.html
ESS3.B Natural Hazards
ESS2.B Plate Tectonics and Large-Scale System Interactions
ESS1.C The History Of Planet Earth
Common Core State Standards ELA
http://www.corestandards.org/the-standards/english-language-arts-standards
Reading Anchor 1, 2, 7, 9, 10
Writing 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Speaking and Listening 1, 2, 5
Language 6
National Council for Geographic Education Standards
The World in Spatial Terms
Standard 1: How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information.
Places and Regions
Standard 4: The physical and human characteristics of places.
Physical Systems
Standard 7: The physical processes that shape the patterns of Earth's surface.
Environment and Society
Standard 14: How human actions modify the physical environment.
Standard 15: How physical systems affect human systems.
National Science Education Standards:
Unifying Concepts and Processes
K-4 Content Standard D: Earth and Space Science
5-8 Content Standard D: Earth and Space Science.
5-8 Content Standard F: Science in Personal and Social Perspectives.
Congratulations, the National Weather Service would like your team to write and read a 30-second Public Service Announcement! A public service announcement (P.S.A.) is kind of like a commercial, but it is not trying to sell anything. Instead, the commercial tries to inform the public and raise awareness about an issue. Your P.S.A. will explain an extreme weather condition that can occur in Michigan.
Have students break into groups and assign each group the responsibility of
explaining one natural disaster to the rest of the class and attaching the pertinent chart to the posted pictures. Have
your students list what they know about the individual disasters and some questions about what they would like to
learn. Keep track on the wall of how many times students use the words describing a particular natural disaster
correctly.
Tasks
Each team will:
- Write a Public Service Announcement (P.S.A.)
- Record an audio or video Public Service Announcement between 30 - 60 seconds.
- Create and deliver a presentation on the topic with a poster or other visuals.
Research
It is assumed that already have some background knowledge about the atmosphere and weather. This part of the project is aimed at you becoming an expert on one of the topics. You can learn about weather and other storm background information by using your textbook. The links on the next pages will help with you become more of an expert on your topic. Make sure you cite sources.
Resources
Here are some links that maybe of help with your research. You will have to look around on these websites. Sources need to be cited on the back of your poster.
- National Weather Service (http://www.nws.noaa.gov/safety.php)
- NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory (http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/primer/)
- FEMA (http://www.fema.gov/kids)
- FLASH Federal (http://www.flash.org)
- http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/natural-disasters/ National Geographic Natural Disasters website
- http://www.ready.gov/kids Ready.gov website
- http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/natural-disasters/forces-of-nature/ National Geographic Forces of Nature website
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7533941.stm BBC Animated Guide to Natural Disasters
- Weather and Climate textbook
- CK-12 Online Textbook
- http://en.community.epals.com/science_center/b/science_center_collection/archive/2012/03/13/the-great-flood.aspx Floods Article
Research Questions
Research your specific natural disaster and answer the questions below. All students need to complete these questions though you may work with teammates to find the answers. Site the source where you found each answer. (Record this information in your Science Notebook or submit a file to Moodle)
What are characteristics of the natural disaster?
What is a Watch?
What is a Warning?
What are the danger signs of this natural disaster?
What was the most memorable historical incident involving the natural disaster studied? When did it occur?
Where else has the natural disaster occurred?
Explain what can be done to prepare for the studied natural disaster.
What are some safety tips BEFORE and DURING the natural disaster?
Procedures
- Meet with your Storm team (8 teams per class).
- Choose a Weather Topic for the public service announcement. There needs to a balance within each class period, so the teacher may assign a topic to your team. Topics: Floods, Tornadoes, Thunderstorms (may include Lightning), Winter Storms (may include Blizzards)
- Research the storm topic that will answer the required information for the Script anPresentation. See the Resource page for recommended links. Everyone needs to complete the Research Notes handout though you may work as a team to find the information.
- Assign Jobs with the team. Each person will be responsible for at least one job though others may help with that job. Jobs to fill include: Writer, Artist, Presenter
- Writer - writes the P.S.A. script about the difference between a watch and warning, optionally may include safety tips. Script when read outloud needs to be approximately 30 seconds long. Include an introduction to the topic. For example, Reader / Actor - reads the P.S.A. script
- Visual Artist - creates the poster or other visuals that gives at least three safety tips.
- Presenter(s) - present the poster or other visual
- Record the P.S.A. live in class or ahead of time. The P.S.A. needs to be about 30-seconds long and spoken clearly. The reader(s) need to practice, practice, practice to make sure it is read clearly and between 20 and 40 seconds long.
- Present to the Class and the world. Students will playback P.S.A. for the class. Then show their poster or other visuals. The audio file (mp3) will be posted online!
- Quiz the Class with your typed quiz questions.
- You will need to your quiz with your answer key.
- For more information, choose a specific job below and read about it. Otherwise, choose the next button to go on to the Research section.
Scoring Guide
Topic _________________________________________________________
Team ______________ _______________ _______________
Audio | 5 Spoken clearly, well practiced, 20-40 seconds long | 4 Spoken clearly, more than 10 seconds out of time frame | 3 Somewhat less clear or more than 15 seconds out of time frame | 1 very difficult to understand |
Script | 5 readable, all parts are clearly defined | 4 readable, most parts are defined | 3 many parts not defined | 1 very little written out |
Information Visual Safety / WW Audio Safety / WW | 5 explains the danger, clearly explains the difference between a watch and warning, and at least three safety tips for the storm | 4 tells the difference between a watch and warning, or missing one tip | 3 the danger is less clear, only a watch or warning is explained | 1 missing important information or multiple errors |
Visual | 5 neat and colorful work | 4 message is clear, colorful, slightly less neat, | 3 message is less clear, less neat | 1 confusing message or poorly done work |
Script
Write a P.S.A. script about the difference between a watch and warning, optionally may include safety tips. Script when read aloud needs to be approximately 30 seconds long.
Include an introduction to the topic. For example, Hello, I would to like to tell you some information about Floods Watches and Flood Warnings...
[Speaker 1]: Information....
[Speaker 2]: Information....
[Speaker 1]: Information....
[Speaker 2]: Information....
Standards
NRC Framework for K-12 Science Education Standards
http://www7.nationalacademies.org/bose/Standards_Framework_Homepage.html
ESS3.B Natural Hazards
ESS2.B Plate Tectonics and Large-Scale System Interaction
Common Core State Standards ELA
http://www.corestandards.org/the-standards/english-language-arts-standards
Reading Anchor 1, 2, 7, 9, 10
Writing 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Speaking and Listening 1, 2, 5
Language 6
National Council for Geographic Education Standards
The World in Spatial Terms
Standard 1: How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information.
Places and Regions
Standard 4: The physical and human characteristics of places.
Physical Systems
Standard 7: The physical processes that shape the patterns of Earth's surface.
Environment and Society
Standard 14: How human actions modify the physical environment.
Standard 15: How physical systems affect human systems
National Science Education Standards:
Unifying Concepts and Processes
K-4 Content Standard D: Earth and Space Science
5-8 Content Standard D: Earth and Space Science.
5-8 Content Standard F: Science in Personal and Social Perspectives.