The Topic:  Tornadoes

Easier - Tornadoes are violent, whirling funnel-shaped windstorms that usually travel over land. When a tornado touches the ground, it can cause great destruction in its narrow path.

 

Harder - Tornadoes, often called twisters, are the most violent of thunderstorms. A tornado over a body of water is called a waterspout.

 

Tornadoes occur when a warm, humid air mass meets with a cool, dry air mass. This collision sometimes results in a powerful, swirling column of air. The tornado's swirling winds can exceed 300 mph. Tornadoes cause much damage by this sheer force of wind, but they also have a strong updraft that can lift and carry objects. Fortunately, most tornadoes are relatively weak; only a few are devastating.

Websites For Kids By Kids

 Twisters: Destruction From The Sky (ThinkQuest Junior site) 

http://tqjunior.advanced.org/4232/

Here you will find photos, stories, ways to save your life, and weird facts about tornadoes.

 

Tornadoes 

http://www.germantown.k12.il.us/html/tornado.html

This school site contains tornado facts, pictures, charts, and links on the cause and effects of tornadoes.

 

More Twister Information

Introduction to Tornadoes from the Movie 'Twister' 

http://www.movies.warnerbros.com/twister/cmp/tornadointro.html

This site has good tornado information. Be sure to explore all the links.

Tornado and Storm Research Organisation

http://www.torro.org.uk/

Read tornado information from the United Kingdom, which has the highest frequency of reported tornadoes per unit area in the world.

 

Tornado Safety Tips Brochures 

http://www.fema.gov/library/tornadof.htm

When a tornado is coming, you have only a short amount of time to make life-or-death decisions. Advance planning and quick response are the keys to surviving a tornado.

 

Tornado Warning! 

http://www.discovery.com/area/science/tornado/tornado.html

Read current dispatches from tornado stormchasers, and hear about the art, science, and danger of twister-chasing.

 

Tornado 

http://www.indirect.com/www/storm5/tornadoindex.html

This website is devoted to tornado and storm chasing, storm spotting, storm chasers, severe weather research, weather photographs and storm safety.

 

Tornado Information Index from USA Today 

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/tornado/wtwist0.htm

Get the latest severe weather watches and warnings plus lots of tornado information.

 

Tornadoes-- Weatherpix

http://weatherpix.com

Site devoted to severe weather education and photography.

Similar and Related Websites:

2) Tornadoes http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/svr/torn/home.rxml

3) Wall Clouds http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/wwhlpr/wall_cloud.rxml?hret=/guides/mtr/svr/torn/ho

me.rxml

 

Tornado Chasers Home Page--Kansas

http://www.tornadochaser.com/

Source for storm spotters on the subject of severe weather & tornadoes.

 

Turn! Turn! Turn! (Scientific American) 

http://www.sciam.com/explorations/052096explorations.html

Learn how scientists unravel the twisted ways of tornadoes.

 

What creates a tornado? 

http://www.pa.msu.edu/~sciencet/ask_st/081397.html

Brief article explains the environmental conditions that cause a tornado to happen.

 

What is a Tornado? at About.com 

http://kidscience.about.com/kidsteens/kidscience/library/weekly/aa051099.htm

A tornado is a powerful storm which is created when moist, warm air gets trapped beneath a stable layer of cold, dry air within layer of warm, dry air. Learn more at this site.

 

Websites for Teachers

Tornadoes (Grade 4) 

http://cecasun.utc.edu/~tpa/mcallister/students/su97SuSandiHeim.html

This lesson plan is about the formation of a tornado, their destructive nature, and related safety precautions.

 

Twister! Understanding and Surviving Tornadoes (Education World) 

http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/lesson116.shtml

Here is a lesson planning article about the meteorological events that signal the possibility of a tornado and what safety measures you and your students can take to survive.