Some people follow weather and climate as a hobby. Others have made it into a career. Professionals and amateurs contribute to a fun weather website called "Weather Underground." Search for their official site. You will use it for all 3 parts of this assignment.
Surf around on their site for a while - there is a lot to see. For the assignments we will be using 3 specific tabs: Severe, Maps and Wunder Photos.
You will turn in all 3 parts at the same time, stapled in this order:
Browse the photos submitted to this website in their Wunder Photos tab. Select one that "shows" weather. Use this photo on your cover page, being sure you include the photographer's name so they get credit for their work! You also need to include your name, class title, and the date. Give the photo an appropriate "weather" title. Make this page look professional.
After you click on the "Severe" button take some time to study the key and the map so you know what you are looking at. Your assignment is to take this visual information and present the same info in written form. You'll need to explain where and what is happening. Title your writing: "Severe Weather Warnings for the date." Use state names, the directions and other details so your writing is as descriptive as the map. Copy/Paste the map onto a separate page and include it in the packet so the reader can check your descriptions against the original data.
For this assignment you will use the "Maps" tab. There are 15 different thematic maps in this section. Take a moment and look at each of them. Each gives specific information and all the information blended together makes for some very detailed weather reporting. Your task is to study these maps, decide what is related and what is important and then craft that into a weather report. You will be typing up the "script" the weather personality would read on the nightly news to sum up the country's weather for that day. You can be creative and have some fun, but remember it needs to include usable facts as well. Include copies (copy/paste into Word) of the two or three maps that you'd want up behind the personality as they talked to "show" what they are saying. But include info from other maps as well so people get a complete picture of that day's weather.
| A | These 3 assignments have no distracting errors and have a polished, professional feel. The student's personality comes through in the work as well their attention to editing and formatting. |
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| B | These 3 assignments are professional in tone and include no more than 5 typos or small errors. Every assignment shows evidence of proofreading and careful attention. |
| C | These 3 assignments are professional in tone and include no more than 10 typos or small errors. Every assignment was completed with effort to show the learning. |