Curated OER
Tornado!: Types and Formation
Students discuss the different types of tornadoes and how they form. Working in groups, they record journal entries by conducting experiments with water bottles simulating vortex formation.
The Field Museum
Field Museum: Exhibits: Nature Unleashed: Inside Natural Disasters
Discover the true powers of Mother Nature through this vivid collection of research which delves into the causes of natural disasters and the impacts on those affected.
Extreme Science
Extreme Science: Tornadoes
Funnel clouds have been around for a long time. Check out the story of tornadoes and find out more about an outbreak of tornadoes in April of 1974.
NOAA
Noaa: Tornado in a Bottle [Pdf]
Find facts about tornadoes and see an actual vortex after making a tornado in a bottle with some common materials.
University of Wisconsin
The Why Files: Control a Tornado? Absolutely!
Control a tornado's intensity by manipulating its width and rotation speed.
PBS
Nova: Tornado Country
Why do the majority of the world's twisters occur in the United States? Find out the role that geography and climate play in spawning tornadoes.
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
Ucar: How Tornadoes Form
Only about one thunderstorm in a thousand produces tornadoes. Learn how tornadoes form.
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
Ucar: Tornadoes
A dark funnel of cloud extends below a storm. If it reaches the ground, it's a tornado.