Earlier this year, students investigated jobs that use math. On Friday, we focused exclusively on using math to protect people from extreme weather. We watched a few weather forecasts about Hurricane Florence, as well as an Explore.org live cam view from Frying Pan Tower off the North Carolina coast. Students then used the Internet to explore any related area of interest. Some learned what tools are used to measure hurricanes, how buildings can be designed to withstand high winds and floods, and how weather forecasters construct predictive models.
A sure sign of a highly engaged class is students who are no longer sitting, but standing at their desks. (Standing allows them to dash off to other students’ desks to share in their new discoveries.) By the end of this class period, many were standing and some students were even unconsciously jumping up and down with excitement over their discoveries and ideas! Several were imagining new methods of turning away or reducing a hurricane. For example, one student drew her own design for underwater fans. The fans capture the energy of an approaching hurricane and then use that energy to power equally strong blasts of air sent back into the hurricane to disrupt it. As the bell rang, she was calculating how many fans of what length would be needed for a hurricane like Florence that is 400 miles in diameter. Fantastic!
Ask your child to show you the class slides about Hurricane Florence and using math to protect people from extreme weather. They demonstrate a fascinating work in progress.