Ivan the Terrible was a feared 16th-century ruler of Russia who tortured his enemies and killed his son in a rage. This month another Ivan has been terrorising the people of the Caribbean in the shape of a hugely powerful hurricane. In its progress over the islands of Grenada, Jamaica, the Caymans and Cuba, and on to the US, it has left almost 100 people dead and thousands homeless. It has also had company in the shape of three previous hurricanes this year, all of which have brought disruption and destruction to the West Indies and parts of the US, particularly Florida and Alabama.
It would have been hard to miss the coverage Ivan has received in the media, and it has provided a golden opportunity to consider hurricanes in class, opening the way for a variety of weather-related lessons across the curriculum.
What is a hurricane?
This is likely to be one of the first questions to crop up in class. There are lots of sites offering detailed descriptions of the phenomenon (for example, ). The name hurricane is used only for those tropical storms occurring in the Atlantic. In the Pacific they are known as typhoons; in the Indian Ocean as cyclones.
Here is an opportunity for some detailed map work using atlases or online resources to plot the main countries affected by these violent storms and the usual courses they take (see ).
Next, get students to investigate the particular circumstances that can provoke hurricanes. Discuss the relationship between sea surface temperatures (above 26 C) and the spin acquired thanks to the Earth's rotation (this is called the Coriolis effect). Hurricanes need time to build up, and without a sufficient period over an ocean are unlikely to acquire the force they need to graduate beyond the status of a tropical storm.
It is also interesting to point out that while meteorologists track dozens of hurricanes and severe storms each year, the majority, luckily, fade out without reaching land.
The science of a hurricane
Hurricanes provide an opportunity for discussing energy and key elements of the water cycle. Their power relies on the transfer of energy that occurs when tropical seawater warms and evaporates. This energy is then stored in water vapour, to be released as the air ascends through the process of condensation. Given time and the correct conditions, this process continues building the sort of 400-mile-wide weather system that Ivan became.
Invite students to download or copy the many diagrams and images that can be found online that illustrate hurricane formation. These can then form the basis of their own descriptions or display work. Students could also investigate the ways in which hurricanes are monitored, both from space and by flying specially adapted aeroplanes through them (see ).
They could also draw up a mock disaster action plan either for a West Indian island, or for their own community. Where would they evacuate people? What is the strongest part of a house if someone refused to leave home?
The power of Hurricane Ivan
In the UK we are used to severe storms and heavy rain, but nothing associated with our weather can prepare us for a hurricane's fury. Winds of over 150 miles an hour are almost impossible to imagine, although there is plenty of photographic evidence about to show the aftermath of such energy.
In Grenada's capital city, St George, more than 90% of the buildings have been wrecked. Ask students to collect and collate as much evidence as they can of the storm's destructive power. What, for example, might be the dangers of venturing out into such a storm? The contrast between the beauty of the storm photographed from space and its impact on the ground could make a highly productive creative writing assignment.
Hurricanes are measured according to the five levels of the Saffir-Simpson scale. There is a clear interactive guide to hurricane formation on the Guardian website that includes an animation showing the effect on various seashore buildings as a storm becomes more ferocious. Needless to say, perhaps, coastal property does not fare well in a scale five hurricane - see .
The damage associated with this year's hurricanes is being set in tens of billions of dollars. The fact that so many of the Caribbean islands' populations live close to the coast has not helped. Exactly why they are concentrated in these areas is also a worthwhile matter for consideration in class.
Collateral damage
Ask students, as part of their research, to investigate all the other problems associated with hurricanes. They will need to find out about storm surges and the heavy rainfall that follows once the severest winds have passed.
A good way of empathising with the people of Jamaica and Grenada would be to get students to imagine the impact locally of a hurricane. What would happen to electricity and telephone lines? What might happen to roads? What would be the effect of high rainfall on local rivers and on people sheltering in already damaged buildings? And what would the consequences be, if, as has happened on both these islands, some people see the disruption as an opportunity for looting?
Curriculum links and guidance
This lesson is written for KS3 (age 11-14) but can be adapted for other ages.
Key stage 2 (age 7-11)
Invite students to adopt a country affected by a recent hurricane and report on the impact it had on the infrastructure and people. Include maps, diagrams and downloaded photographs in a display.
The precise way names for hurricanes are allocated is explained at . As well as explaining the system in their own words, children could adopt a past hurricane and describe its history.
There is a rhyme common to West Indians, describing the annual hurricane season. It goes:
June - too soon
July - stand by!
August - look out, you must
September - remember
October - all over
The poem's use as a forecasting tool is limited, but it is a good link to English work, inviting students to try to catch the destructive power of a hurricane such as Ivan. Students could collect vocabulary from reporters' accounts (see, for example, ).
Students wanting to know more about wind measurement could investigate how to make an anemometer at .
Key stage 4 (age 14-16)
Ask students to visit the CIA factbook sites on Jamaica and Grenada ( and ) and come up with a detailed analysis of why Hurricane Ivan could be particularly devastating for these economies.
The fact that there have been four highly destructive hurricanes in the Caribbean this year is being taken by some commentators as proof of the growing number of climatic changes linked to global warming. This theme is taken up in a number of articles online, such as . Students could record contrasting views on the matter.
The measurement and monitoring of hurricanes is also a key topic and there is a mass of information online setting out the alert systems activated when hurricanes look as though they may make landfall: .
Finally, as an English assignment, ask students to create a public information film or leaflet setting out what people in school should do if a hurricane were imminent.
Curriculum links
KS2
Art Painting or creating in multimedia
English (En1) 1a-g, 2a-f, 3a-b; (En3) writing to describe
Geography 1a-e, 2a-g
Science (Sc1) 1a-c, 2a-e; (Sc4) 2, 5
KS3
Citizenship 1a, 1f, 1h, 1i, 2a-c, 3a-c
English (En1) 1a-g, 2a-f, 3a-b; (En3) writing to describe
Design and technology 1, 2, 3, 4
Geography 1a-f, 2a-e, 3a-e, 4a, 5a-b, 6d, 6f, 6i
IT 1a-c, 2a, 3a-c, 4a-d
Science (Sc4) 2, 5
KS4
Citizenship 1a, 1f, 1h, 1i, 2a-c, 3a-c
Geography Climate; population and development issues
IT 1a-c, 2a, 3a-c, 4a-d
Scottish Curriculum 5-14
English levels D-E
Geography levels D-E
Science levels D-E