Grade Levels: minutes AMBROSE VIDEO PUBLISHING 1996

Transcription

1 #3628 LIGHTNING Grade Levels: minutes AMBROSE VIDEO PUBLISHING 1996 DESCRIPTION Lightning is a very familiar natural force, but scientists don't know how it begins, what causes it, or why a bolt takes a particular path. Lightning kills 1000 people annually, can be 30 miles long, but less than an inch thick. Time-lapse photography and recollections from people who have experienced it firsthand provide an intense look at this awesome force of nature. ACADEMIC STANDARDS Subject Area: Science Standard: Understands basic features of the earth Benchmark: Knows that clouds and fog are made of tiny droplets of water (See Instructional Goal #2) Benchmark: Knows the processes involved in the water cycle (e.g., evaporation, condensation, precipitation, surface runoff, percolation) and their effects on climatic patterns (See Instructional Goals #1, #2) Standard: Understands the nature of scientific inquiry Benchmark: Knows that scientists use different kinds of investigations (e.g., naturalistic observation of things or events, data collection, controlled experiments), depending on the questions they are trying to answer (See Instructional Goal #3) Standard: Understands the scientific enterprise Benchmark: Knows that although people using scientific inquiry have learned much about the objects, events, and phenomena in nature, science is an ongoing process and will never be finished (See Instructional Goal #4) Subject Area: Geography Standard: Knows the physical processes that shape patterns on earth s surface Benchmark: Understands how physical processes affect different regions of the United States and the world (e.g., effects of hurricanes in the Caribbean Basin and the eastern United States or of earthquakes in Turkey, Japan, and Nicaragua; effects of desertification and soil degradation, flash floods, dust storms, sand movement, soil erosion and salt accumulation in dry environments) (See Instructional Goal #5) 1 Funding for the is provided by the U. S. Department of Education

2 INSTRUCTIONAL GOALS 1. To illustrate how lightning is formed and how it strikes the ground. 2. To explain how normal clouds and thunderclouds are formed. 3. To show a variety of ways that scientists learn about lightning. 4. To describe the features of lightning that scientists are still studying in an effort to understand completely. 5. To identify areas of the United States and the world that have the most lightning strikes. VOCABULARY 1. meteorology 2. lightning bolt/lightning strike 3. water vapor 4. condenses 5. electric charge 6. stratosphere 7. anvil-head thundercloud 8. arborescent 9. stepped leader 10. streamers 11. minute fraction (very small) 12. electrical resistance 13. Faraday Cage 14. sprites BEFORE SHOWING 1. Share personal experiences with thunderstorms and lightning. 2. Make a list of lightning facts. Make a separate list of lightning myths or questionable facts. 3. Predict how scientists study lightning. DURING SHOWING 1. View the video more than once, with one showing uninterrupted. 2. Pause during the diagram showing the positive and negative electrical charges inside the cloud. Clarify the information. 3. Pause during the segment showing the sprites. Inform the viewers that this footage was taken from a plane above a thunderstorm. Point out the sprites. 2 Funding for the is provided by the U. S. Department of Education

3 AFTER SHOWING Discussion Items and Questions 1. Discuss the statement, But we ll never be able to control or fully understand the mystery of lightning. 2. Where do the most severe thunderstorms occur? Where is lightning alley located? What is America s second most active place for lightning? 3. Describe what a lightning stalker does. Discuss the positive and negative aspects of chasing thunderstorms. 4. How does a cloud form? How is a thundercloud different from a normal cloud? What causes the electrical charge inside the thundercloud? 5. Approximately how many people are struck by lightning in the United States each year? How many survive? 6. Why do researchers at Langmuir Laboratory fire rockets into thunderclouds? 7. Describe the formation of a stepped leader. Explain the creation and function of streamers. 8. What is a Faraday Cage? What is its probable use? What common thing functions like a Faraday Cage? 9. Why did NASA fly a fighter plane through a violent thunderstorm? 10. Explain what the term sprites means. 11. List different ways scientists gain information about lightning. Applications and Activities 1. Return to the lists of lightning facts created prior to watching the video. Evaluate each item on the lists. Correct any incorrect facts. Research correct information of things not presented in the video. 2. Locate the most common places for lightning on a world map. a. tropics and subtropics b. Florida s lightning alley c. Mount Baldy in New Mexico 3. Research Benjamin Franklin s experiments and discoveries related to lightning and electricity. 4. Make a diagram or mural to show the creation of thunderclouds and lightning. Include: a. evaporation of water into water vapor b. condensation and cloud formation c. formation of ice crystals d. ice crystals becoming charged e. creation of the anvil head-shaped cloud f. formation of a stepped leader g. streamers from the ground h. lightning bolt 3 Funding for the is provided by the U. S. Department of Education

4 5. Calculate the ratio of lightning strikes (40,000,000) to the number of people hit by lightning in the United States each year (400). Calculate the ratio for survivors (200). 6. Research statistics on lightning strikes, lightning damage, and deaths for different states. Make a chart and compare the statistics. 7. Report on various lightning experiments and research projects. Include their findings. 8. Research lightning on Jupiter or on any of the other planets in the solar system. 9. Find out more about the arborescent pattern that lightning strike survivors develop. 10. Debate the value of further lightning experiments. 11. Research myths related to lightning. Write a story or myth that creates an explanation for lightning. 12. Create a book or posters on lightning safety rules for a variety of settings. 13. Find out more about sprites. Report the findings. 14. Compare stories of lightning strike survivors. 15. Do a lightning experiment. Watch and feel electrons move between an aluminum pie tin and your finger. a. Tape a strip of tag board to the center of an aluminum pie tin for a handle. b. Rub the bottom of a clean Styrofoam tray on your hair, really fast. c. Put the tray upside down on a table. d. Use the handle to pick up the pie tin. Hold it about one foot above the Styrofoam tray. Drop the pie tin. e. Very slowly touch the tip of your finger to the pie tin. See and feel the spark. f. Use the handle to pick up the pie tin. Touch the tin again with the tip of your finger. Another spark. g. Drop the pie tin onto the Styrofoam tray again. Touch the tin to get another spark. h. Repeat picking up and dropping the pie tin many times, touching it each time. i. Try the experiment in the dark. RELATED RESOURCES Clouds (Revised) #3021 Flash to Bang #3463 Understanding Weather: Storms #2692 Weather, A Film for Beginners #2141 Weather: The Chaos Which Surrounds Us #3532 The Wonderful Weather Machine # Funding for the is provided by the U. S. Department of Education

5 World Wide Web The following Web sites complement the contents of this guide; they were selected by professionals who have experience in teaching deaf and hard of hearing students. Every effort was made to select accurate, educationally relevant, and kid-safe sites. However, teachers should preview them before use. The U.S. Department of Education, the National Association of the Deaf, and the Captioned Media Program do not endorse the sites and are not responsible for their content. THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE: LIGHTNING Designed for younger students. It includes lightning history, science, and detection. SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN: SPRITES AND ELVES This Scientific American article about sprites and elves (lightning from clouds to space) is full of detailed explanations and photographs, along with a large number of related links. LIGHTNING SAFETY FOR KIDS A child who was hit by lightning made this Web site. It includes basic information, personal stories from children and adults, a lot of safety information, and additional links. THUNDERSTORMS AND LIGHTNING This page on the National Weather Service and NOAA Web site covers thunderstorm formation, related kinds of weather, lightning information and myths, safety issues, and disaster kits. NATIONAL LIGHTNING SAFETY INSTITUTE Focuses on safety related to lightning and includes information for a wide range of situations and activities. It also has a section on lightning accidents and incidents. 5 Funding for the is provided by the U. S. Department of Education