NSTA Recommends
Changes in Weather
by Harvey Goodman
Price at time of review: $89
0 pp.
Educational Activities, Inc.
Freeport, NY
2000
ISBN: 7925-4506-0
Grade Level: 5-12
|
|
Reviewed by Robin Vernuccio
Lower School Science Specialist
Anyone who has ever been soaked in a sudden afternoon downpour knows that forecasting the weather is a challenge. The video Changes in Weather portrays many of the situations that affect the weather as well as the scientists whose job it is to predict and warn. This video would make a good source of enrichment for a weather unit at the middle or secondary level.
The video begins by defining different atmospheric events that influence weather systems. Some air masses and fronts can cause conditions that lead to dangerous events in our atmosphere. Colorful computer animation offers good illustrations of moving air currents, such as the Gulf Stream and El Niño. The producers use analogies to make complex processes clear; for example, colliding fronts are compared to players on a football field. However, viewers realize that the movement of fronts can have far more serious consequences than a game of football does.
Students will be mesmerized by scenes of violent and dangerous weather conditions. Blizzards can mean a lot more than just a day off from school; wind shears of over 150 mph can crash aircraft. Spectacular thunderstorms kill more people each year than tornadoes or hurricanes. Tornadoes and the violence they leave in their wake are also portrayed with incredible video of the twister funnels that appear each spring in Tornado Alley. Winds as high as 300 mph are strong enough to toss aside railroad cars! Through computer animation, viewers learn how a hurricane such as Andrew inflicted $300 billion dollars worth of damage.
I like the strong emphasis on scientific process in the video, with scenes of active scientific research. Weather forecasters use weather balloons, geosynchronous satellites, radar, aircraft and ocean buoys to provide important life-saving information. An extended lesson in reading weather maps at the end of the video helps students to appreciate how difficult it is for forecasters to make totally accurate predictions. Accompanying teacher strategies and activities will help middle school and high school students appreciate the challenges involved in predicting our changing weather. Changes in Weather would make a good accompaniment to an Earth science unit on weather or careers in science.
Review posted on 3/6/2002
|