Provide each student with a clear jar, clear liquid soap, white vinegar and water. Fill the jar 3/4 full with water, a teaspoon of liquid soap and a teaspoon of vinegar. Screw the lid on the jar so it is very tight. Instruct the students to move the jar in a circular motion to make the contents of the jar swirl. The swirling motion of the jar will cause the contents to create a vortex.
Each student will need two 2-L bottles with their caps. Have an adult drill a hole in the center of the bottle caps. Each student should fill one of the bottles approximately 2/3 full with water. Screw the caps tightly on each bottle. Place the empty bottle upside down on the other bottle. The two caps should be directly on top of each other and the holes in the caps should be lined up. Secure them together using either duct tape or packaging tape.
While holding the bottles in the center, have each student move them in a circular motion. When the water starts to swirl, it will create what looks like a tornado. The water has a very small hole to drain through and the air from the bottom bottle will need to be displaced into the top bottle. The vortex allows the water to quickly move to the bottom bottle, while allowing air to escape.
For this experiment, you will need a Lazy Susan and metal screen material to create a cylinder. Use small pieces of wire to fasten the cylinder together. Put a small metal dish in the center of the Lazy Susan. Put a couple small pieces of sponge in the bowl and pour lighter fluid over them.
First, light the sponge on fire without the cylinder on the Lazy Susan. Spin the tray, so the students can see that the fire spins but does not rise. Extinguish the fire. Next, repeat the same process, but once the fire is lit, place the screen cylinder on the Lazy Susan and then spin the tray. The fire will start to rotate in a tornadic fashion. The screen gives the air molecules an initial spin and then they collide with the hot air from the fire, and the flame twists into the shape of a tornado.
Place a cup on a wood platform. Then glue a piece of vinyl to one side of the cup and glue the rest of the vinyl sheet to the board to hold it in place. Glue a second piece of vinyl the exact same way, but on the other side of the cup. Pour approximately 1/2 cup of water into the cup. Place a few pieces of dry ice into the water. Put a plant saucer with a 2-inch diameter hole in the center upside down over the top. Finally, turn on a small handheld fan and hold it in the hole in the center of the saucer. The fan will create an updraft, and the gas being released by the melting dry ice will get caught in the updraft and create a visible vortex.