Tornado Tube Book Create a tornado in a bottle. email to friend
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Create a tornado in a bottle! With this colorful plastic tube, learn about the science of vortex energy, the swirling, twisting and spiraling action that can be found everywhere in Nature. Included with the Tornado Tube is the amazing 128 page science book, Taming the Tornado Tube by Steve Spangler, which presents 50 ways to keep you turning and learning. It was inspired by science teachers and students all over the country! Ages 6 and up.

What's included?

• Taming the Tornado Tube book
• Tornado Tube connector in your choice of quantity, available in assorted colors

How does it work?

Get a couple of 2-liter plastic soda bottles and fill one with water. Connect the empty bottle to the first with the Tornado Tube, so it looks like an hourglass. Tip this "hourglass" upside down, swirl the bottles, and in seconds a beautiful "tornado" appears. It's a great way to study science and nature without visiting Tornado Alley!

What does it teach?

Use this experiment to introduce students to kinetic energy and potential energy. Help them to discover how air pressure and density work together, then discuss the physics of weather and the atmospheric conditions that are present when a real tornado forms.

Experiment

Purchase some colored lamp oil at a local department or grocery store. Fill one of your tornado tube bottles three-quarters full with water and then add a few ounces of colored lamp oil. Attach the second bottle using a Tornado Tube connector. When you swirl the liquid, the less dense lamp oil is drawn into the vortex and makes a colorful tornado!