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Extreme Nature

How Do Severe Weather and Natural Disasters Affect Us?

Fifth Grade Science

Mrs. Linda Lucero

Woodson Elementary School

Corning, California


Earthquakes	Volcanoes	Hurricanes	Tornadoes	Winter Storms

Thunderstorms	Tsunamis	Floods	Droughts	Current Severe Weather

Hurricane Katrina harshly demonstrated how an entire city can be obliterated by one raging storm. The Indian Ocean tsunami that struck the day after Christmas in 2005 shocked the world with its mammoth destruction of lives and structures. These catastrophic events have prompted the U. S. Department of the Interior to plan a convention of scientists to share findings that help us understand and prepare for future severe weather and natural disasters.

Your Task

You are a scientist hired by the Department of the Interior to research severe weather and natural disasters. You will share your findings at the upcoming convention.

Activity

Access: Read information on selected websites

Analyze: Collect key words on note cards

Produce: Create a PowerPoint presentation

Disseminate: Share at the convention

Rubric

CATEGORY	4	3	2	1
Content	Covers topic in-depth with details and examples. Subject knowledge is excellent.	Includes essential knowledge about the topic. Subject knowledge appears to be good.	Includes essential information about the topic but there are 1-2 factual errors.	Content is minimal OR there are several factual errors.
Organization	Content is well organized using headings or bulleted lists to group related material.	Uses headings or bulleted lists to organize, but the overall organization of topics appears flawed.	Content is logically organized for the most part.	There was no clear or logical organizational structure, just lots of facts.
Mechanics	No misspellings or grammatical errors.	Three or fewer misspellings and/or mechanical errors.	Four misspellings and/or grammatical errors.	More than 4 errors in spelling or grammar.
Attractiveness	Makes excellent use of font, color, graphics, effects, etc. to enhance the presentation.	Makes good use of font, color, graphics, effects, etc. to enhance to presentation.	Makes use of font, color, graphics, effects, etc. but occasionally these detract from the presentation content.	Use of font, color, graphics, effects etc. but these often distract from the presenation content.
Sources	Source information collected for all graphics, facts and quotes. All documented in desired format.	Source information collected for all graphics, facts and quotes. Most documented in desired format.	Source information collected for graphics, facts and quotes, but not documented in desired format.	Very little or no source information was collected.
Workload	The workload is divided and shared equally by all team members.	The workload is divided and shared fairly by all team members, though workloads may vary from person to person.	The workload was divided, but one person in the group is viewed as not doing his/her fair share of the work.	The workload was not divided OR several people in the group are viewed as not doing their fair share of the work.
Presentation	Well-rehearsed with smooth delivery that holds audience attention.	Rehearsed with fairly smooth delivery that holds audience attention most of the time.	Delivery not smooth, but able to maintain interest of the audience most of the time.	Delivery not smooth and audience attention often lost.