Weather-Resistant Engineering · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

Building for the storm

Science · Weather & Climate · ages 9-11
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. What do hurricane straps connect?

    • The windows to the doors
    • The roof to the walls
    • The floor to the yard

  2. Which of these is an engineering solution designed to protect homes from floods?

    • Houses built on stilts
    • A bigger front door
    • A brighter porch light

  3. A tornado shelter usually has large windows so people can watch the storm.

    Circle one:   True   False

  4. A family gets an early-warning alert on their phone an hour before a hurricane arrives. What is the biggest benefit of this warning?

    • It gives them time to move to a safer place
    • It stops the hurricane from forming
    • It makes the wind weaker

  5. A town builds a flood wall along the river. During a hurricane, the wall keeps water out, but strong winds still tear roofs off nearby houses. What does this show?

    • The flood wall is a poor design and should be removed
    • Wind and flooding never happen at the same time
    • The flood wall protects against water, not wind

  6. A roof without straps survives winds up to 90 mph. The same roof with hurricane straps survives winds up to 150 mph. How many more mph can the strapped roof survive?

    No straps90Withstraps150

    Answer: ______________

  7. A coastal town gets hurricanes often but almost never floods, and land there is very expensive. Which is the better first investment?

    • Neither, since engineering cannot help with weather
    • A tall flood wall, since floods are rare there
    • Hurricane straps on roofs, since hurricanes are the real risk there

  8. Jamal says: My town has a tornado shelter, so we don't need a flood wall too. What is wrong with his thinking?

    • Tornado shelters and flood walls do the exact same job
    • A tornado shelter protects against wind, not rising water, so a flood wall is still needed for floods
    • Towns only ever face one kind of extreme weather
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Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Building for the storm W1-mt_iiUdDUEEGY-s1

  1. The roof to the walls · Straps hold the roof down to the walls so wind cannot lift it off.
  2. Houses built on stilts · Raising a house on stilts keeps the living space above rising flood water.
  3. False · Tornado shelters have thick walls and no windows, since windows can shatter in strong wind.
  4. It gives them time to move to a safer place · A warning system cannot change the weather, but it gives people time to reach safety, which reduces injuries.
  5. The flood wall protects against water, not wind · Each design solves one hazard. The flood wall stops water, so the roofs still need a different fix, like hurricane straps.
  6. 60 · 150 minus 90 is 60 more mph the strapped roof can handle.
  7. Hurricane straps on roofs, since hurricanes are the real risk there · Good design matches the hazard that is actually likely. Spending on a flood wall where floods rarely happen wastes money and land.
  8. A tornado shelter protects against wind, not rising water, so a flood wall is still needed for floods · Each design protects against a different hazard. A town near a river may need both a shelter for tornadoes and a wall for floods.
Worksheet · LightMySky