Tornadoes and Hurricanes word search, scramble and crossword puzzle

Tornadoes and Hurricanes word search, scramble and crossword puzzle

I made this tornadoes and hurricanes puzzle set for my 3rd and 4th graders during our extreme weather unit. The kids always mixed up which one forms over water and which one forms over land. So I put together a word search, a word scramble, and a crossword using words like tornado, hurricane, funnel, vortex, eye, eyewall, thunderstorm, spiral, wind speed, radar, warning, shelter, landfall, and storm surge. Nothing fancy — just puzzles to help them finally tell the two apart.

The PDF is four pages. Three puzzles plus one answer key page. The word search works well for quiet time after recess. The scramble gets them talking because they argue over how to spell "tornado" plural or what "landfall" means. The crossword I use for partners. I added a couple simple spiral cloud drawings but nothing too busy or scary.

Works for 2nd through 5th grade. Print and go. Sometimes I have early finishers compare the two on the back — one fact for tornadoes and one for hurricanes. The kids actually ask for these now.