Weather Experiment

Our thematic unit this month for science was weather.  This is a hot topic in my classroom every day, but especially during the months where seasons are changing.  For instance, why is it still snowing when it is Spring? My kids get very confused about the weather during this time of year, so it makes it a perfect time to really target the topic.  

For each science topic, we have a little experiment.  This month, we made the old school tornado out of two 2-liter bottles.  My kids LOVE this simple little thing.  Some of them even work for it as a reinforcer throughout the school day.


The experiment is easy to set up.  You just need two 2-liter bottles and some duct tape or a fancy tornado tube (we have one of these and it works great...no leaks!).  I found a tornado tube on amazon for $3...check it out here.

Then, you just fill a 2-liter bottle with water, attach the bottles, swirl the bottles around, and you have got yourself a tornado.  When we create our tornado, we like to add food coloring and glitter to really jazz it up.


After the experiment, I have the kids fill out this simple comprehension sheet as well.  Get your FREE copy by clicking here.

I also saw this cute experiment on pinterest for rain, which I may just need to incorporate into our unit next year.  You just fill a cup with water and put shaving cream on top to be the cloud.  Then, you add blue food coloring and explain that as clouds get heavy with water, it rains....as you add more food coloring, the food coloring eventually falls through the "cloud" like rain.  I haven't tried this out to see if it works, but looks like a cute idea!