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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Tornado!: Types and Formation

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
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.
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Website
The Field Museum

Field Museum: Exhibits: Nature Unleashed: Inside Natural Disasters

For Students 9th - 10th
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.
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Unit Plan
Extreme Science

Extreme Science: Tornadoes

For Students 9th - 10th
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.
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Activity
NOAA

Noaa: Tornado in a Bottle [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
Find facts about tornadoes and see an actual vortex after making a tornado in a bottle with some common materials.
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Interactive
University of Wisconsin

The Why Files: Control a Tornado? Absolutely!

For Students 9th - 10th
Control a tornado's intensity by manipulating its width and rotation speed.
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Website
NASA

Nasa: Sci Jinks: Tornado!

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn how tornadoes form and find out if you live in Tornado Alley.
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Website
PBS

Nova: Tornado Country

For Students 9th - 10th
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.
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Handout
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

Ucar: How Tornadoes Form

For Students 4th - 8th
Only about one thunderstorm in a thousand produces tornadoes. Learn how tornadoes form.
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Article
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

Ucar: Tornadoes

For Students 9th - 10th
A dark funnel of cloud extends below a storm. If it reaches the ground, it's a tornado.
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Graphic
Curated OER

Waterspout

For Students Pre-K - 1st
Waterspout off of the Florida Keys
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Graphic
Curated OER

Tornado

For Students Pre-K - 1st
Oldest known photograph of a tornado, 1884 Howard, South Dakota.