Teacher Information

Looks Like Sounds Like

Smiles Good Job

Eye contact One person talking at a time

Nodding good communication

Taking turns

Student Level: 5th grade

Time: 25 minutes

Background Information: A tornado is an intense whirlwind that forms during some thunderstorms. Tornadoes are most likely to occur when air masses of very different temperatures and humidities collide. They most often occur in conjunction with a cold front, where there are great contrasts between air masses.

A cold front is formed when a moving mass of cold air overtakes warmer air ahead of it. The cold air pushes under the warm air mass, thus a cold front forms. The warm moist air is pushed up and cools which forms clouds. A tornado forms when cooler air and surrounding winds cause the warm air to twist. The twisting winds suck more warm air into the center of the cloud. As the winds gain strength, a funnel cloud forms and drops toward the ground.

Prerequisite Information: The students will know what a tornado is and does. Tornadoes are funnel clouds that cause great destruction. They should also know that tornadoes do not occur on a cloudless day.

Materials:

• 6 one quart jars red food coloring
• 2 ice cube trays tornado lamp

Group Size: 6 groups of 4 or 5 (depending on class size)

Roles: Materials person, recorder, reporter, cleanup person, encourager

1. Teaching Procedures

   Introduction of Lesson - Turn on the tornado lamp. Begin a discussion by asking students the following questions:

   • What is this?
   • Has anyone ever seen a real tornado?
   • What did it look like?
   • How does a tornado form?
   • What do you think causes a tornado?

   Share with the students the background information about tornadoes and cold fronts.

   Explanation of Lesson: Explain to the students that they will be making a model of a cold front. They will be divided into cooperative groups of four or five. They will make a model of a cold front out of a jar, warm water, and a colored ice cube.

   Development of Concept (Procedure):

   • Assign cooperative groups of 4 or 5 (depending on class size). Explain the roles for each member. The materials person will get the jar and ice cubes and return to the table. This person also needs to fill the jar half full with warm water.
   • The teacher will hand out the directions and questions. The recorder will write the hypothesis before the ice cube is put into the water. They will also record any observations after it is put into the warm water.
   • The reporter will report what the group's hypothesis and observations were. The cleanup person will return the materials to the teacher.
   • The teacher may need to make the colored ice cubes the day before the activity. Remind the students not to disturb the jars after the ice cubes have been added. Be alert for water spills. After the activity, briefly discuss what the students recorded.
   • Next hand out the Andover maps and questions.
   • The students will use the statistics on this map to solve the problems.
   • Discuss the answers.

   Positive Interdependence - Even though each student in the group has their own individual role, they are still working cooperatively to complete the experiment.

   Individual Accountability - The teacher will randomly call on students while he/she asks the students questions about tornadoes and cold fronts. Those questions could be:

   • Why do tornadoes occur?
   • How is a cold front formed?
   • What kinds of weather conditions does a tornado occur in?

   Criteria for Success - The students will observe that the cold, colored water from the melting ice cube slowly goes down. The warm water is pushed up. They will understand that when cold air pushes into a warm air mass, the cold air pushes under the warm air, forcing the warm air up.

   Expected Behavior - The students will learn to cooperate with one another in a small, cooperative group setting to complete the lesson.

   Monitoring - The teacher will walk around the room observing each group, while being readily available to answer any questions from the students. The teacher will need to make note of the students that are off task.

   Processing - The students need to be prepared to discuss with the teacher what they have learned while working in their cooperative groups, by being able to answer the individual accountability questions.

   Conclusion - The cooperative groups will report their observations to the class and discuss the comparison of this activity to how a cold front is formed.

   Evaluation - The students will complete a questionnaire with the following questions:

   • Did I work well with members of my cooperative?
   • Did I take responsibility of my individual role?
   • Did I put a good effort into this activity?
   • Did everyone in my group participate?
2. Extensions
   • The students could watch a video about tornadoes and answer questions.
   • The students could write a report about what to do if a tornado occurs.
   • The students could research a tornado that has occurred in the last five years in Kansas and give a report about it.
3. Resources
   • Addison-Wesley Science Teacher's Edition 5, pgs. 292-301

1. What do you think will happen when the ice cube is put into the warm water?

    

    

    

   Fill your jar half full with warm water.

   Gently drop an ice cube into the warm water.

   Watch what happens to the water for the next five minutes.

2. What happened to the ice cube? To the warm water?

1. Did I work well with members of my cooperative? Yes no

2. Did I take responsibility of my individual role? Yes no

3. Did I put a good effort into this activity? Yes no

4. Did everyone in my group participate? Yes no

Use the attached statistics map to answer the following questions.

1. For how long a time period was the tornado on the ground?
2. Towards what general direction (southeast, southwest, northwest, northeast) did the tornado move?
3. What was the length of the tornado path?
4. What was the average ground speed of the tornado?
5. Based on the scale provided and the path drawn on the map, which of the following was most likely the maximum width of the tornado --- 30 feet, 300 feet, 3,000 feet 3 miles? (One mile is 5,280 feet.)