Tropical Storms Station Lab - New 2021 TEKS 8.10C

This modular, student-led activity is fully aligned with TEKS 2021 standard 8.10C and will keep your middle schoolers engaged while exploring tropical cyclones, including hurricanes and typhoons. With everything included, you’ll save a ton of prep time while empowering students to guide their own learning.

In this interactive lab, students will describe how interactions between ocean currents and air masses produce tropical storms. Designed for flexibility, it works equally well for both in-class and virtual learning.

Differentiated, Modular, and Student-Centered

Each lab includes nine differentiated activities, offering students a personalized learning experience. Teachers act as facilitators while students investigate independently or in small groups, creating a true student-centered classroom.

All signage, resources, and task cards are included. The Explore It! station may require a few simple classroom materials you likely already have.

The Stations

Input Stations – Learn the Concepts

• Explore It! – Hands-on demo or digital drag-and-drop activity in PowerPoint/Google Slides

• Watch It! – Short video with comprehension prompts

• Read It! – Differentiated passages (English & Spanish) with vocabulary and comprehension practice

• Research It! – Facts, images, and graphs with guided questions

Output Stations – Show Understanding

• Organize It! – Printable or digital card sorts/manipulatives

• Illustrate It! – Sketches or diagrams modeling tropical storm formation

• Write It! – Open-ended short-answer prompts

• Assess It! – Task cards + a vocabulary-in-context writing activity

Bonus Station – Challenge It!
Extension activities such as crosswords, games, and mini-projects for advanced learners and early finishers

Virtual & In-Class Flexibility

This station lab is fully compatible with Google Slides and PowerPoint, making it simple to implement in both traditional and digital classrooms.

Why Teachers Love It:

• Differentiated for all learner needs

• Multimodal activities to keep students engaged

• Flexible for print or digital use

• Minimal prep required

This resource is also part of the Tropical Storms 5E Lesson Plan, which expands into editable presentations, interactive notebooks, student-choice projects, assessments, and more.

This is a finished product; it will be updated with corrections as needed. Future improvements and new features will be sold as a separate product.