In this lesson plan from the National Geographic Xpedition site, students study the origins and mechanics of tornadoes. They do research alone and in groups, using the internet, a map of North America, and outline maps of the U.S. Students also study the intensities of these storms, as well as where they will hit, and how they are tracked. This is a lesson that gives students the opportunity to learn about tornadoes in their many facets.
In this lesson plan from the website Science Fair Projects, students make a tornado vortex by taping two soda bottles together in a way that one is balanced on top of the other. The bottle at the bottom is filled with water, food coloring, and confetti. Both bottles have caps with holes that have been drilled in, so that the liquid is able to pass through. When the project is finished, students flip the liquid-filled bottle on top and swish it around. The contents, as they pass down into the empty bottle at the bottom, should make a vortex similar to that of a tornado.
In this small project from Expert Village, students can make a tornado quickly and easily by filling up a small bottle with a drop of dishwashing soap, water that reaches just below the neck of the bottle, and a touch of glitter. After screwing the cap on the bottle, students swish around the water so that a little vortex forms.
In perhaps the most ambitious project, from the website Tornado Project, students take a large cardboard box about 24 by 12 that has been spray painted black. Students cut out two sides out of the box length wise and install plexiglass or clear plastic wrap in these spaces for windows. A small circular hole is cut on top of the box, and a fan covers this hole face down. Inside the box, there is a bowl of hot water sitting at the bottom. A hunk of dry ice is placed inside this bowl, and the vortex forms from the vapors as they rise and twist.