Description
Bring weather science to life with this hands-on hurricane mapping lesson your students will never forget.
Visit our Educator Guide for standards, lessons, and classroom activities. https://s.si.edu/WeatherEducatorGuideYT
Be sure to check out the next video in this series: https://s.si.edu/Weather_SS_YT
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In this Teacher Tips episode from the National Air and Space Museum’s On Air series, Marty and Beth walk you through a classroom‑ready activity where students use wind‑speed data—and a whole lot of candy—to build their own hurricane map. This collaborative, tactile lesson helps students visualize extreme weather patterns, interpret data, and understand why meteorologists use color‑coding to communicate storm intensity.
You’ll learn how to set up the activity, manage materials, keep students focused, and adapt the lesson for your classroom. We also share downloadable maps, keys, and a full lesson plan with standards, discussion questions, and printables.
Explore additional videos in this month’s weather series—from storm chasing to the TIROS‑1 satellite to a severe weather researcher’s career path—and find even more classroom resources in the Teacher Tips document linked below.
If you use this lesson, share your classroom strategies in the comments so other teachers can benefit from your experience.
On Air is made possible by the generous support of Amazon, Boeing and the Hexcel Foundation.
This video is part of the National Air and Space Museum’s monthly theme weather. Be sure to check out the other videos in this collection.
🌪️ Setting the Scene: https://s.si.edu/Weather_SS_YT
🛰️ Museum Connection: https://s.si.edu/Weather_CC_YT
🌤️ Career Paths: https://s.si.edu/Weather_MP_YT
🎥Credits🎞️
Featuring:
Marty Kelsey
Beth Wilson
Production Team:
Mike Bowling
Elizabeth Kollmar
Callan Beideman
Special Thanks:
Erika Novak
Beth Crownover
On Air is a free educational series for students produced by the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. We cover all the cool, fun, and weird ways that aviation and spaceflight touch our lives. Visit the website to learn more: https://bit.ly/OnAirWebsite_YT
Interested in more teacher friendly, educational content? Subscribe to the National Air and Space Museum’s Teacher Newsletter: https://s.si.edu/NASMTeacherNews
Each of the videos in this series are available in a separate player with additional accessibility features. This player should also allow these videos to be played in your classroom. You can find these videos here: https://bit.ly/OnAirWebsite_YT
Be sure to follow On Air and the National Air and Space Museum at:
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Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
00:14 Candy Hurricane Lesson
03:03 Storm Chasing
03:17 TIROS 1
03:35 Career Exploration
03:56 Educator Guide
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