As part of the student voice initiative, GCISD will periodically feature news articles written by high school journalism students.
On Tuesday, September 12th, the fifth graders of Glenhope Elementary School received a lesson on hurricanes they will never forget! Previous to the event, the classrooms spent time covering hurricanes due to their presence all over our country’s news channels. At two in the afternoon, the elementary library began to fill with lively children, eager to widen their knowledge of these tropical storms. Their unique visitor for the afternoon was meteorologist, Jason Johnson.
Kicking off his lesson, Johnson presents a power point he created for the 5th graders. In the presentation, he describes how a hurricane develops and the levels of danger it is capable of reaching . He goes onto depict how this danger is rated in “meteorologist talk,” or more simply put a “Category.” Johnson not only provided an explanation of hurricanes in our country’s history, but also went on to discuss our current hurricanes, Harvey and Irma. Hurricane Irma had begun forming in late August off the coast of Africa. While Irma’s danger level was a Category 5 when hitting Puerto Rico, it became a Category 4 when arriving in Florida. Through photographs within his presentation, Johnson was able to depict just how devastating these storms can be; leaving families with little personal items and islands without vegetation. I believe everyone observing the lesson could agree we are blessed to not be victims of the current hurricane’s aftermath.
At the conclusion of the slide show it was onto the 5th graders favorite part-question time! Each student had an opportunity to develop a unique and individual question to be answered by a real meteorologist- how fun is that! Children made their way up to the monitor to receive a one-on-one with Johnson. Some questions included:
“What makes a hurricane stronger?”
“ Heat, which is an equivalent to energy. The heat will cause the hurricane to rise, causing a stronger hurricane.” (Meteorologist Jason Johnson)
“What happened to water on beach after hurricane?”
“The hurricane force winds that are high speed and spread, so water is pushed off the coastline.” (Meteorologist Jason Johnson)
“How are hurricanes named?”
“ They are typically named five years prior to the set of names being released.” (Meteorologist Jason Johnson)
“ Why do hurricanes not hit California?”
“There are some that form near the coast of Mexico, but generally the winds moving east/west will move the hurricane outward towards Hawaii.” (Meteorologist Jason Johnson.)
Wrapping up the questions, proceeded the ending of the event. The fifth graders thanked their wonderful and helpful guest visitor for all the knowledge they received in just half an hour. Leaving the library, the fifth grader then had a whole new perspective about hurricanes they could go home and share with their families!