Tornadoes

**Tornadoes** //Curriculum Links:// Geography and Earth Science

//Objectives:// Students will learn about how tornadoes are formed. They will learn about how tornadoes move and about the different forms and shapes tornadoes make. Students will look at photographs and video of real tornadoes from Teachertube and simulate a tornado in the tornado in a bottle experiment.

//Materials:// Several empty and clean liter soda bottles, clear container, or narrow jar, with a secure top; water; clear liquid soap; vinegar; teaspoon measure Teacher Tube Tornado Resources: @http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?title=Tornado&video_id=174770 @http://www.nationalgeographic.com/eye/tornadoes/tornintro.html @http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/edu/safety/tornadoguide.html Tornado Song @http://www.songsforteaching.com/intellitunes/tornadoes.htm Words to Tornado Song

//Time:// 1 Period, 45 minutes

//Scope and Sequence:// We have been learning about Natural Disasters, today we will talk about Tornadoes, what they are and how they are formed. First play the tornado song. Then students will watch a few video clips of what tornadoes look like. After the videos, everyone will fill out questions 1 and 2 on their Inquiry Think Sheet. * This lesson can be adapted for more in depth research and investigations about Tornadoes by showing the map, looking at where tornadoes tend to occur most, and at the land and weather patterns in those areas. For now, students' guiding question will be: How do tornadoes form? The students will make a prediction, and then prepare the experiment. Scholastic Lesson 2: Tornado Lab Report "2. Distribute __<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0000ee; font-family: serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;">Student Worksheet #2 __ to each student. (At this point, the teacher can conduct the experiment with the whole class, or prepare individual supplies so that students can do the experiment themselves.) As a class, read through the procedure on the worksheet. Have students answer the first question before the experiment. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">3. Fill an empty container 3/4 full of water. Add 1 teaspoon of vinegar and 1 teaspoon of liquid soap to the water. Secure the top on the bottle and shake. Next, vigorously rotate the bottle in a circular motion to create a funnel (vortex). Have students answer questions 2 and 3 on the worksheet. Students should see a //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">vortex // form when the container is rotated. A //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">vortex // is a spiral, circular motion that occurs in a tornado. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">4. As a class, discuss students’ responses to question 3. Their classroom tornadoes are like real tornadoes in terms of shape and movement, but unlike a real tornado, students’ tornadoes are liquid rather than air."

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 12pt; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Following the experiment and students' sharing ideas of what happened during their experiment...what were some different ways you rotated the bottle? What results did you get? How do you think tornadoes form? Does this have anything to do with the way you rotated your bottle? Finally, students will read the information in the article: //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"__<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0000ee; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;">How Does a Tornado Form __?" //, next they will think about their predictions and modify their ideas about how tornadoes are formed. *You may also want to provide spinning tops for students to experiment with after reading the article.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 12pt;">**Extension:** <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 12pt;"> Invite students to brainstorm a wild weather invention. What would the invention do and why? Have students illustrate their inventions and write a one-paragraph description of them.

<span style="color: #55552c; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 14pt; text-align: left;">//Supplementary Materials:// ** Tornadoes! ** by [|Gail Gibbons] ** Tornadoes (My First Discovery) (Earth's Power) ** by [|David Armentrout] and Patricia Armentrout ** Inside Tornadoes (Inside Series) ** by [|Mary Kay Carson] ** Tornado Alert (Let's-Read-and-Find... Science 2) ** by Franklyn M. Branley and Giulio Maestro

<span style="color: #55552c; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 14pt; text-align: left;">//Assessment of Students:// <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 12pt;">Students will create a tornado in a bottle, to demonstrate how the tornado moves. They will draw pictures of the different shapes and sizes of tornadoes, and use the article to help them explain in their own words, how tornadoes are formed.

<span style="color: #55552c; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 14pt; text-align: left;">//Evaluation of the Lesson:// <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">//Were students able to explain how a tornado is formed and moves? Were students able to create a tornado in a bottle and summarize the information learned about tornadoes in their Science Notebooks?//

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