Weather Channel Lightning And Thunderstorms

By Mike Graf

What happens when a plane is hit by lightning? Why does lightning look like a streak one time and a ribbon or row of glowing balls another? How do rocket ships create lightning as they fly? These... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0689820186
• ISBN13: 9780689820182
• Release Date: August 1998
• Publisher: Simon Spotlight
• Length: 64 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 0.3" x 5.3"
• Age Range: 7 to 10 years
• Grade Range: Grades 2 to 5

Customer Reviews

When lightning strikes

This 60-page early reference book is great for 3rd and 4th graders wondering how lightning and thunder happen. It removes their fear. The book opens with a chapter inaptly labeled Drama, which provides myriad facts about lightning and thunder. For example, at any given moment 2,000 thunderstorms are happening on Earth, which adds up to about 16 million thunderstorms a year. Like fingerprints, each lightning bolt differs from all others. Kids also learn here about Zeus and his mythic temper and Thor, the Viking God of lightning and thunder, who threw hammers at his enemies. Three brief sections discuss Ben Franklin's famous kite-flying experiment, weather forecasting and storm chasers.Kids next learn how clouds form. Clouds can be small or huge, reaching 60,000 feet--taller than Mount Everest. Thunderstorms require warm air, which explains why many storms occur near the Equator. Indonesia's Java Island typically has thunderstorms on 223 days out of the year. The Southeastern U.S. also gets lots of thunderstorms. Kids also learn in this chapter the three stages of thunderstorms.The third chapter discusses the types of electricity, including the static variety that causes lightning. Kids learn about the various types of lightning--sheet, ribbon, bead, ball and fork--as well as what causes thunder. When lightning flashes, the air through which it travels heats up to about 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit, which quickly causes rapid loud shock waves that make huge booms. There are several types of thunder, too.Chapter 4 discusses what happens when lightning strikes. It includes 10 pages of beautiful photographs. Next kids meet two young survivors of lightning strikes. Chapter 5 also provides several websites that discuss lightning strikes and storm safety. The latter is also covered in Chapter 6.A fine book. Alyssa A. Lappen

Learn about lightning

The book is about lightning and thunderstorms and what they can do. One strike from a bolt of lightning could easily kill you. Very few people have survived getting hit from lightning. I enjoyed reading the book because it is interesting. It shows stories about people who survived lightning. It tells you how to be safe in a thunderstorm. I would recommend this book to a friend because you would learn a lot about lightning. I wanted to read it because lightning is fascinating. I think its cool.The pictures were colored photographs of thunderstorms. There was not a lot of pictures, but they were good ones. What I have learned from this book is that there is lightning that you cannot see. With invisible lightning, you can see the clouds light up. You still hear the thunder, the lightning is inside the cloud. The thunder might also be because of the sonic boom that the lightning makes. When something goes at the speed of sound, or faster, the sound waves get messed up and make this booming sound, called a sonic boom. There is ball lightning that has been claimed to have been seen many times. Not much is known about ball lightning, it stays there for a couple of seconds in a ball. After all lightning occurs, there is a smaller strike that comes up from the ground. It is very high voltage electricity. The static electricity forms from the clouds rubbing together and makes the high voltage electricity that we call lightning.You can protect yourself from lightning by crouching down, not laying down because if you lay down, the counter strike from the ground can hurt you. If you stand up, the going down lightning hits the tallest thing possible. You should be away from any water because water conducts electricity and therefore if you're near water, the electric bolt can be duplicated and can hurt you.The safest place to be in a thunderstorm is inside a house or inside a hard top car. On every house or building, there is a lightning rod that conducts electricity and sends it straight to the ground. In the car, the rubber from the wheels won't let the lightning get into the car.The thunderstorm is created when ice and water mix and mix inside clouds creating static electricity and lightning. There needs to be a lot of ice and water to start raining, they keep on building up into the clouds until the cloud is too full and they fall out. Only certain kinds of clouds that create thunderstorms.There is a story about a boy named Nathan. His mom and dad were out and he had to watch his younger brother. His mom called and told him about the thunderstorm that was going to come, so he went to get his kitties out of the garage. He didn't want them to get hurt. When he was going out, he touched the door knob and got struck by lightning. He didn't think he went unconscious. He thought he was going to die. Everything was numb and burnt on his body. He tried getting out of the garage again and it worked

Storm Safety

Great book to teach everyone storm safety. I am especially partial to the book because my son was struck by lightning and his story is featured in this book! Most people do not understand the dangers of lightning and this book helps others understand the importance of weather safety.