Learning Activity Sheets in
SCIENCE 8
Quarter 2 – Week 6:
UNDERSTANDING TYPHOONS
JESSICA P. PINGOL
Teacher I
0
UNDERSTANDING TYPHOONS
LET US KNOW
This Learning Activity Sheets (LAS) was designed and written with you in mind. It is here
to help you understand typhoons. The scope of this LAS permits it to be used in many
different learning situations. The language used recognizes the diverse vocabulary level of
students.
This Learning Activity Sheets (LAS) contains:
• Lesson 6 – Understanding Typhoons
After going through this module, you are expected to:
1. Trace the path of typhoons that enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR)
using a map and tracking data (Week 6 S8ES -IIf – 21)
LET US REVIEW
Activity 1 – A. Choose the letter of the best answer. Write your answer on a
separate sheet of paper.
1. What agency takes charge of giving information about the coming of typhoon?
a. DOST b. PAGASA c. PHIVOLCS d. NDRRMC
2. What is necessary to form a typhoon?
a. warm air b. moist air c. heated air d. cool air
3. For at least how many hours can we expect a PSWS #3 tropical cyclone before it
affects the locality?
a. 36 hours b. 24 hours c. 18 hours d. 12 hours
4. When a tropical cyclone passes over a certain place, it is the ______ that has greater
wind speed?
a. eye b. eyewall c. rainbands d. directions
5. In which layer of the atmosphere, do all weather disturbances happen?
a. Thermosphere b. Mesosphere
c. Stratosphere d. Troposphere
Activity 1-B Modified True or False. Analyze each statement. Write TRUE if the
statement is correct. If the statement is NOT TRUE, change the underlined word to come
up with the correct statement.
______ 6. The lowest air pressure is at the eyewall of a tropical cyclone.
______ 7. At the eye of a tropical cyclone, wind speed is higher.
______ 8. When tropical cyclone reach land, they intensify because warm ocean water
keeps them going.
______ 9. The location of the eye is the location of the tropical cyclone.
______ 10. Weather forecasting is a prediction on the general weather conditions of the
atmosphere in the next 20 hours.
LET US STUDY
What is a typhoon?
Oceans and seas have great influences on the weather of continental masses. A
large portion of the solar energy reaching the sea-surface is expended in the process of
evaporation. This water evaporated from the sea/ocean is carried up into the atmosphere
1
and condenses, forming clouds from which all forms of precipitation result. Sometimes,
intense cyclonic circulations occur which are what we call tropical cyclones.
Tropical cyclones are warm-core low pressure systems associated with a spiral inflow
of mass at the bottom level and spiral outflow at the top level. They always form over
oceans where sea surface temperature and air temperatures are greater than 26°C. The
air accumulates large amounts of underlying heat as it spirals towards the center. It receives
this heat from the sea and the exchange can occur rapidly, because of the large amount
of spray thrown into the air by the wind. The energy of the tropical cyclone is thus derived
from the massive liberation of the underlying heat of condensation.
In other parts of the world, these are referred to as hurricanes, typhoons or simply
tropical cyclones depending on the region. In the North Atlantic, Eastern North Pacific and
South Pacific Ocean, they are called "hurricanes". In the Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea and
Western South Indian Ocean, the name is "cyclonic". In the eastern part of the Southern
Indian Ocean, it is "willy-willy", and in the Western North Pacific Ocean, they are called
"typhoons".
PARTS OF A TYPHOON
• EYE -The center. The calm part of the storm.
• EYE WALL – The Part around the eye. It has the strongest winds and rains. Winds may
blow 200 miles per hour.
• RAIN BANDS – These are clouds that spin.
Tropical depression, tropical storm, typhoon, and supertyphoon are categories of a
tropical cyclone. A tropical cyclone is a system of thunderstorms which are moving around
a center. As the winds intensify or weaken, the category is upgraded or downgraded
accordingly.
Category Maximum Wind Speed
Kilometers per hour (kph)
Tropical Depression 64
Tropical Storm 118
Typhoon 200
Super typhoon Greater than 200
How Landforms and Bodies of Water Affect Typhoons
Tropical cyclones can only form over oceans of the world except in the South Atlantic
Ocean and the South Eastern Pacific where a tropical cyclone could never be formed due
to the cooler sea surface temperature and higher vertical wind shears. They reach their
greatest intensity while located over warm tropical water. As soon as they move inland,
they begin to weaken, but often not before they have caused great destruction.
The Philippines is prone to tropical cyclones due to its geographical location which
generally produce heavy rains and flooding of large areas. It also susceptible to strong
winds which result in heavy casualties to human life and destructions to crops and
properties. Thus, it is of utmost importance to have sufficient knowledge on such maritime
phenomena for beneficial purposes.
Philippines experienced many typhoons with approximately 19-20 typhoons per year.
And somewhat each one of us is always fascinated with “WHY”.
2
Activity 1
Instructions: Check the Philippine map. What have you noticed? Familiarize yourself
with the different bodies of water and landforms surrounding the Philippines.
Answer the following questions: (For bodies of water)
1. What are the bodies of water that surround the Philippines?
2. Explain why those bodies of water contributes to the formation of typhoon.
3. Do you think it is safe to leave in an area near the sea? Explain your answer.
(For Landmasses)
1. Based on the given map, give some examples of landforms that form the Philippines?
2. What do you think will happened to a typhoon if it hits the mountainous area of a
particular place?
The formation of a typhoon involves the following processes:
1. Evaporation of water at ocean surface temperatures of 26.5 degree Celsius
2. Convergence of air masses of different characteristics
3. High humidity
4. Warm air rises toward the cooler parts of the atmosphere; it cools off and the water
vapor begins to form clouds
3
LET US PRACTICE
Instruction: Read the following excerpt from Explainer: How Tropical Cyclones Form by
Rappler.com, Sept. 27, 2017.
“In the warm, open seas just off the equator, the
water is considerably warmer; so is the air. The warm air
CLOUD
helps the warm water evaporate faster; and this hot,
moist mass of air would go up, following the basic WARM
principle that "warm air goes up, cool air goes down." RAIN
AIR
Up in the air, the water vapor cools down and
condenses, and the heat is released back to the air; this WARM
heat makes the air lighter, making it move further up. It WATER
then triggers air from outside the system to go inward,
then upward, towards the system. This air flow helps more water to evaporate, joining the clouds
and precipitation already massing up in the air. If the process continues, energy and precipitation
accumulate further, and the winds speed up. Once the winds reach a certain speed, it then
becomes a tropical cyclone. If conditions are favorable, the tropical cyclone will continuously
accumulate energy and precipitation, making the system stronger and more destructive.
How a tropical cyclone is called differs based on where it was formed. In the Northwest
Pacific – the area that includes the Philippines – it is called a typhoon; in the Southwest Pacific and
in the Indian Ocean, it is a cyclone; and in the Eastern Pacific and in the Atlantic, it is a hurricane.
The location of the storm also determines how it spins. Those that form below the equator
spin clockwise, while those that form north of the equator, counterclockwise.
Questions:
1. Why do typhoons often form in areas near the equator like the Philippines?
2. What do you call a tropical cyclone if it is formed in the Northwest Pacific?
Southwest pacific? Eastern Pacific and Atlantic?
LET US REMEMBER
Instructions: Read each set of events. Answer the questions by numbering them in the correct
order. How landforms and bodies of water affect typhoons
______1. The typhoon will also dissipate if it moves over land. Interaction with land will weaken a
typhoon.
______2. Clouds begin to form as the air cools because of its elevation and soon the system begins
to rotate.
______3. As warm air rises from the surface of the water, less air is left and a low pressure area
develops.
______4. This area of low pressure pulls in the air around it.
______5. Typhoons begin over warm water and in humid air between 10 and 20 degrees’ latitude
north in the Pacific Ocean.
______6. As the air comes in, it warms up and begins to rise
______7. If conditions are favorable, especially the temperature of the water, then the system
grows and eventually an eye will form.
______8. If the water temperature drops below 79 degrees Fahrenheit, the storm will weaken.
______9. They affect typhoon based on what or how strong the energy is released by the
landforms and bodies of water.
_____10. Typhoons gain energy from warm ocean water and lose energy over cold water.
LET US APPRECIATE
Activity 7
Instruction: Write your answer on a
separate sheet.
Figure 7. Storm Surge Hit Manila Figure 8. Typhoons: A devastating Natural
Disaster
4
Guide Question:
1. Based on pictures above, what do you think is happening to the strength of the
typhoon if it is still at sea? While entering the terrain or exceeding it on the ground? Explain
your answers.
LET US PRACTICE MORE
Instructions: Before we fully understand how typhoons form, let us familiarize ourselves
with some words associated to its formation. Find these words hidden in the puzzle. The list
below will guide you. A separate sheet will be provided for you. (Don’t write on the
module)
TROPICAL CYCLONE WORD SEARCH
1. HIGH HUMIDITY
2. CONVECTION
3. PAR
4. THUNDER
5. EYE
6. WARM WATER
7. CLOUDS
8. WIND SPEED
9. HURRICANE
10. CYCLONE
11. TEMPERATURE
12. PRECIPITATION
13. PACIFIC OCEAN
14. PAGASA
15. EYEWALL
EVALUATION
Instructions: Choose the letter of the correct answer. Write your answer on a separate sheet
of paper.
1. Where do most Philippines typhoons form?
a. At the equator b. Sea over the Philippine Deep
c. Caroline-Marianas area of the pacific d. Habagat
2. What is the basis in categorizing tropical cyclones?
a. Temperature b. Atmospheric Temperature
c. Amount of rainfall d. Wind speed
3. What can you say about the temperature of the bodies of water in the vicinity of
the Philippines?
a. cold b. lukewarm c. warm d. warm and cold
4. Where do the tropical cyclones form?
a. on air b. in the ocean c. on land d. on mountain
5. What is the category of the tropical cyclone if the wind speed is between 65 - 118 kph?
a. Tropical Depression b. Tropical Storm
c. Typhoon d. Supertyphoon
