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One day while traveling down the road you see the clouds start to darken and the wind pick up. You are reminded of the great tornado outbreak that hit Illinois on April 19, 1996. This storm looks strikingly similar to that day you saw the awe and destruction created by these whirling monsters of wind, pressure, lightning and rain. As you are driving, you begin to daydream about what it would be like to chase storms, specifically tornadoes. All of the sudden, a funnel appears off in the distance, and before you know it you turn your car in the direction of this tornado intent on catching up to it.
"What do you need to remember about storms from your days in school?"
While traveling through the back roads to catch the tornado you can use your mobile laptop to help you find information that will refresh your memory on storms and tornadoes and how to chase them. You will need to stop periodically and videotape your adventure with your new Sony Digital Camcorder that we supplied you with for your journey. When you are finished you will make a mini movie and write an accompanying script detailing your adventure, i.e., "the BIG chase." Unfortunately, since this is a class project, there will be an accompanying assessment in the form of a small test on the "nuts and bolts" of storms and tornadoes.
In order to successfully catch the tornado, you will have to research/answer the following questions while on the move. To help you out, that is so you can continue pursuing the tornado, refer to the links provided in the Resources section below.
Use these links to find answers to the questions about thunderstorms, tornadoes, and storm chasing.
1. The Central Illinois Cases of April 19, 1996
3. Thunderstorms and Tornadoes
5. Coolest Virtual Tornado Field Trip
Time to start laying out (storyboarding) your movie that you will put together using imovie and/or iDVD.
Hopefully you have a better appreciation for the people who deal with tornadoes on a regular basis. If you want to become a storm chaser or meteorologist, you now have a better insight into the power and awe of one of nature's grandest processes.
Time to integrate another discipline of learning. Take all of your experience and write a script for your movie that someone could read if they wanted to professionally produce your experiences. You are to type using a word processing program such as Word or Appleworks.
Specific educational standards incorporated into this webquest can be accessed at:
Content standards utilized in this webquest include: