Hurricanes

Fall 2021 Wonder Challenge: Hurricanes
This video was created for the Wonder Challenge for the Fall 2021 Environmental Science, Politics, and Policy course taught by Dr. Kwame Owusu-Daaku at the University of West Florida. We partnered with Elizabeth Eubanks and 6th grade students from Dixon School of Arts and Sciences. We created a video answering the question posed by the 6th graders “I wonder…what is a hurricane (and how do people film a hurricane while it's happening?”
Many different variables go into the formation of hurricanes and how they are filmed. In this informative production video, these variables will be discussed and shown through real-life smaller-scale examples, that help link different concepts into one. The video is divided into 5 main topics explaining components of hurricanes as follows: pop tart skit, balloon skit, storyline, playground roundabout explanation, and hurricane filming
explanation. All topics are described below and had demonstrative qualities on screen.
In the pop tart skit, the aim was to demonstrate to students how the ocean fuels hurricane production. The pop tart acted as the ocean and the magnifying glass as the sun. This was then associated with evaporative processes near the equator that are strong due to solar declination. Thus, the warm waters help fuel hurricanes by great amounts of condensation and intense solar radiation.
The balloon skit was created to provide an understanding of wind flow. Density is how close the molecules are together and the movements between them. When molecules are removed, they become less dense which allows them to flow in different directions. This flow demonstrated by the removal of balloons from a system demonstrates how water vapor
moves from higher density to lower density. Then this concept can ultimately be related back to the convergence of warm, moist winds creating hurricanes.
The middle topic is about a storyline of a hurricane named Frieda. This storyline details how warm winds coupled with the Coriolis effect create hurricanes. The power that these destructive storms produce and the feelings it inspires in people who live along the coastline target areas where they make landfall. Lastly, the story glances over how they dissipate and end, resulting in a change to the environment.
The fourth topic covers how hurricanes spin. Demonstrated in the video is a roundabout at a playground in which it is spun and increasingly gains speed. This relates to the air parcels rising which eventually become so strong they rotate and pull multiple bands of thunderstorms with them. Finally, the formation of the eyewall is created.
At the end of the video, the last topic is explained. Hurricanes can be filmed with the help of various resources. Satellites help provide GPS data for planes to locate the eye of the storm. Once located, sonde devices help collect data that provides the necessary information to predict multiple pathways in which landfall may occur.
Team members: Justin Rahn, Dharma Shrecengost, Maddie Vasquez, Halie Wetherington, and Ny'Kierra Montgomery