How do thunderstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes, and blizzards form? What do they look like in the sky and on radar? How strong can these storms get and what can they do? What sizes can hail be and what causes it to form? What are dew points and relative humidity? What is flash flooding? Why do certain types of storms form in some places better than in others? Answer these and other questions as you become more of an expert kid meteorologist in "Severe Weather: Thunderstorms, Tornadoes, Hurricanes, and Blizzards."

Through lively and interactive discussions, vivid images, video clips, teacher demonstrations, and activities, students will learn about wild weather during this exciting and fun 8-week semester class. They will better understand complex weather dynamics on a kid's level. 

Common core science standards (Next Generation Science Standards - NGSS) this class will incorporate are 2-PS1-1, 2-PS1-4, 2-ESS2-3, 3-ESS2-1, 3-ESS2-2, and 5-ESS2-1.

More specifically by week, in addition to monitoring current weather in the United States:

Class 1: Students will learn cloud types and then study thunderstorms in-depth: How they form and grow, what they look like, lightning, hail, air movement, grouped storms, single storms, and lines of storms. They will also study severe thunderstorms in depth. Then, they will draw a guided picture of a thunderstorm, label its parts, and compare it to photos of actual storms.

Class 2: Students will learn about water in the air. They will examine how water vapor helps create storms and affects our comfort level outdoors during the summer. They will learn what the dew point is and how to measure it, and gain an understanding of the challenging concept of relative humidity. They will learn about water droplets, drops, and evaporation. 

Class 3: To further develop their meteorology skills, students will study symbols on weather maps and begin to learn how to interpret these maps. They will also learn about fronts, air masses, air pressure, and how warm air and cold air behave in the atmosphere. Plus, they will discover what conditions are favorable for severe weather to form and how geography is important.

Class 4: This week is all about tornadoes: How they form, special cloud types in severe thunderstorms, the Enhanced Fujita Scale of tornado intensity, tornado damage vs. straight-line wind damage, and more.

Class 5: The students will learn about severe weather watches and warnings. They will study how severe thunderstorms and tornadoes appear on radar and how to track them. 

Class 6: This week, it is time to learn about hurricanes and tropical storms. Students will examine where and how they form, and find out what makes them strengthen – or weaken. We will see if meteorologists can predict the paths of hurricanes to warn people days in advance. We will also cover the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.

Class 7: The students will get a good grip on winter precipitation: Snow, sleet, and freezing rain. They will see how temperature layers determine what will reach the ground. The students will see what ingredients and weather map features come together to create snowstorms. Then, they will find out what it takes to be a blizzard.

Class 8: The students will finish the class studying weather instruments and ideas on how students can make measurements on their own. They will also see how, in the United States, we get help from the National Weather Service and the Storm Prediction Center. If we have learners from other countries, we will take a look at the weather agencies in those parts of the world. We will wrap up our class giving attention to any remaining topics and questions learners may have.

(NOTE: The emphasis in this class will be on the weather itself and not casualty aspects. Any reference to structural damage will be in the context of keeping safe and the minimal chance of being affected.)

I am looking forward to seeing you!