INFOhio's Core Collection of Electronic Resources has several resources which will help your students learn more about hurricanes and their aftermath.

NewsBank Newspapers – From the main menu page, click on Hurricanes Rita & Katrina/Other Natural Disasters near the top of the page under Special Reports. Within this site you will find the latest newspapers and newswires around the world, along with maps of the states affected, images and links to information on other disasters. Local Ohio newspaper articles can also be searched from NewsBank’s main page. (Grades 6-12, Current Events, Social Studies)

EBSCOhost – Both Student Research Center for Grades 6-8 and ...9-12 have quick links to Hurricanes listed in each Top Searches box in the left frame. Most recent articles still appear first, so current information is easy to locate. If you haven't seen the new EBSCO Student Research Center interface, you will be impressed! (Grades 2-12, Current Events, Social Studies)

AccessScience – Type in the keyword hurricane for several types of articles. Under the encyclopedia article, you will find a detailed explanation of how hurricanes are formed. There are also additional links to dictionary definitions, news updates (not on Katrina, yet) and more. (Grades 6-12, Science)

SIRS Discoverer – In addition to Hurricane articles found using a keyword search, check Current Events for a quick link to the latest news stories. Pictures of Katrina, Rita and previous hurricanes can be found by clicking on Pictures in the lower right corner and typing hurricane in the search box. An excellent PDF graphic titled Anatomy of a Hurricane shows how these destructive storms are formed. Web sites related to Hurricane Katrina can be located in Discoverer Web Find (new this fall) by performing a subject heading search. From the Discoverer home page, click on the gold WebFind bar to locate recommended Web sites. (Grades 2-8, Current Events)

Britannica Online School Edition – Use the keyword hurricane to find grade-appropriate articles in Britannica Elementary, Compton's by Britannica and Encyclopaedia Britannica. In addition to articles, search results display additional content such as magazine articles, The Web's Best Sites and Multimedia resources, such as a QuickTime animation of a hurricane. Latest articles from New York Times on the Web are linked from the Encyclopaedia Britannica page. Use Britannica Online to search for information on New Orleans, Mississippi, Texas and other areas affected by the hurricanes of 2005. (Grades 1-3, 4-8 and 6-12, Science)

Oxford Reference Online – Type in the keyword hurricane for definitions and derivations from several resources. Some entries have illustrations. (Grades 6-12, Science)

Other online resources

CNN: Hurricane Season 2005 has a wide variety of hurricane resources: maps, animations, special reports, a photo gallery and movie clips. This site is also updated often with the latest news. Click on the CNN logo in the upper left corner for even more stories and videos from CNN News. (Grades 7-12, Science & Current Events)

Hurricane Video Gallery from the Discovery Channel has excellent streaming videos explaining and demonstrating how hurricanes happen and showing video footage of previous hurricanes. Excellent video content! (Grades 6-12, Science)

FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) is the branch of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security formed on March 3, 2003, to help prepare for and clean up after a disaster. This site contains information about what the federal government is doing to help as well as news releases and lots of photos. (See left menu bar near bottom for Photo Library.)  See also FEMA for Kids for great resources for younger students.

Hurricane: Storm Science is an online exhibit from the Miami Museum of Science. There are tutorials, experiments and stories from hurricane survivors. (Grades 3-6, Science)

NASA Hurricane Resource Page is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration site giving information about hurricanes of the present and the past. There are animations, video clips, lots of images and much more. This site is updated frequently to contain the latest hurricane information. (Grades 7-12, Science & Current Events)

Forces of Nature: Hurricanes is an excellent site from National Geographic. This tutorial leads students visually through the formation of a hurricane and allows them to “create a hurricane” by setting up the conditions and learning the results. Also contains maps of previous hurricanes, case studies and (see icons in upper right corner) links to similar learning tools for Volcanoes, Earthquakes & Tornadoes. (Grades 4-12, Science)

National Hurricane Center is the main Web site from the National Weather Service. This site contains the latest warnings, maps, satellite images and news on Katrina and Rita. In addition, there are excellent lessons on hurricanes, tips to prepare, hurricane history and much more. This is an excellent site! (Grades 6-12, Science)

NOVA Science Now: Hurricanes is the PBS program aired in January of 2005. This site contains a 12-minute video clip about how scientists predict hurricanes' paths and intensity. There is also an online quiz of hurricane knowledge and other scientific information. (Grades 6-12, Science)

OH! Teach coordinator Carolyn Brodie announced recently that "OH! Teach has posted a collection of interactive and informational sites about hurricanes and how they are detected, as well as information on Hurricane Katrina, its aftermath and its devastation." (All grades)

USA Today: Hurricane Basics contains many facts about hurricanes: What they are, how they are named, global climate change and more. (Grades 7-12, Science & Current Events)

Yahooligans Science: Hurricanes presents a cartoon movie and quiz from BrainPop. Watch the video with BrainPop stars Tim and Moby, then take the quiz to see how much you’ve learned. (Grades 2-6, Science)

Sheila Benedum
Librarian, Bay High School
Electronic Resources Spotlight Coordinator

Suggestions
INFOhio participants and visitors to this site are encouraged to submit suggestions to INFOhio about our Electronic Resources and ER Spotlights.