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Handout
American Museum of Natural History

American Museum of Natural History: Tornadoes O Logy Card

For Students 3rd - 8th
Flip this interactive card to start learning about tornadoes, nature's most powerful storms. Answer multiple-choice and fact-or-fiction questions and review some fast facts about tornadoes.
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Activity
Read Works

Read Works: Tornado Scientists

For Teachers 5th Standards
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about tornadoes and the scientists who study them. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
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Website
PBS

Pbs Nova: Killer Tornado of 1928

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource provides a remarkable first-hand account of the day a tornado struck a small town in Nebraska in 1928 taking lives, injurying many, and causing much devastaion.
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Article
Scholastic

Scholastic: Tornado

For Students 9th - 10th
This is an article by John Griffiths that discusses tornadoes including a definition, characteristic behaviors, clauses and classifications, and occurrences.
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Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: How Do Tornadoes Form?

For Students 9th - 10th
Meteorologist James Spann sheds light on the lifespan of tornadoes as they go from supercell thunderstorms to terrible twisters before eventually dissolving back into thin air. [4:11]
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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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Activity
Bill Nye

Bill Nye: Twistin' Tornado

For Students 9th - 10th
This experiment with Bill Nye explains how to make a tornado in a bottle.
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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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Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Tornado Damage!

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students will learn about tornadoes, the damage they cause, and how to rate tornadoes. Specifically, students will investigate the Fujita Damage Scale of tornado intensity, and use it to complete a mock engineering analysis of damage...
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Website
Other

University of Akron: Research Challenges Location of 'Tornado Alley'

For Students 9th - 10th
Geographer Michael Frates redefines the concept of Tornado Alley by using a grid system to map tornado activity in the U.S. Download the Tornado Alley map and locate the other tornado active areas: Hoosier Alley, Dixie Alley and the...
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Website
Dan Satterfield

Dan's Wild Weather: Tornado Weather

For Students 3rd - 8th
What do you want to know about tornadoes? This site highlights the different aspects of tornadoes. Don't miss out on learning more about these wild storm patterns.
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Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Tornado!

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students learn about tornadoes - their basic characteristics, damage and occurrences. Students are introduced to the ways that engineers consider strong winds, specifically tornadoes, in their design of structures. Also, students learn...
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Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: A Tornado in My State?

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students will analyze data of tornadoes throughout the United States. They will create a bar graph of the number of tornadoes for the top ten states in the country and then calculate the median and the mode of the data.
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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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Website
USA Today

Usa Today: Your Guide to Tornado Safety

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource provides information about tornado safety to its readers.
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Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Investigating Speed and Acceleration Using Tornado Tubes

For Teachers 6th - 8th
In this activity, students will use a plywood ramp and various tornado tubes (made from tornado tube connectors and 2 liter pop bottles) to calculate the average speed of the tornado tubes. They will set up 4 investigations filling the 2...
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Unit Plan
Teachnology

Teachnology: Hurricane and Tornado Teaching Theme

For Teachers 9th - 10th
For any educators preparing teaching themes/units on hurricanes or tornadoes, this is the site for you! Links to a myriad of lesson plans, worksheets, interactive sites, teacher resources, and much more are all found on this expansive site.
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Activity
Read Works

Read Works: The Tornado Drill

For Teachers 3rd
[Free Registration/Login Required] A literary text about a boy who gets frightened during tornado drills at school. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
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Activity
Read Works

Read Works: A Tornado Is Coming

For Teachers K - 1st
[Free Registration/Login Required] This realistic fiction passage tells the story of a family taking cover after learning that a tornado is nearby. This passage shares basic facts about tornadoes. This passage is a stand-alone curricular...
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Interactive
PBS

Nova: Hunt for the Supertwister

For Students 9th - 10th
This activity will introduce you to the Fujita scale for rating tornado strength. You will then put your knowledge to use by observing photographs of tornado damage and assigning them a rating.
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Lesson Plan
Discovery Education

Discovery Education: Tornado!

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Use this site to explore how engineers and architects are able to create tornado-proof designs for houses and other buildings.
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Handout
Science4Fun

Science4 Fun: Tornado

For Students K - 1st
Explore how tornadoes are formed, learn about the parmeters of a tornado, discover the different types, and find out where they occur.
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Handout
Science Struck

Science Struck: Life Cycle of a Tornado

For Students 4th - 6th
Describes the three stages of a tornado's life cycle.
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Handout
Science Struck

Science Struck: Effects of Tornadoes

For Students 4th - 6th
Provides some facts about tornadoes and describes their impact.

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