Tornadoes A Tornado is A violently rotating column

Tornadoes

A Tornado is… • A violently rotating column of air • It extends from the cloud to the Earth’s surface. • May cause winds more than 300 mph.

How do Tornadoes form? • Most tornadoes form from a thunderstorm. • Warn, moist air and cold dry air come together. • When the two air masses meet they create instability in the atmosphere. • Next, a change in wind direction and an increase in wind speed with increasing height create an invisible horizontal spinning effect in the lower atmosphere.

How Tornadoes form? . . . • Rising air within the updraft tilts the rotating air from horizontal to vertical. • As it is tilted vertically it beings to extend down to the Earths surface.

Parts of a Tornado • Mouth- The mouth is the top of the tornado that is not usually seen. From above it looks like a big hole where you can see down to the ground. • Throat- This is the part of the tornado that comes from the mouth and extends to the ground. This is the part of the tornado that you see. It is also called a funnel.

How strong are they? • Tornadoes are on a rating scale called the Fujita-Pearson Tornado Scale. This scale is used to determine how strong a tornado is. • The weakest tornado is called an F-0. The winds are anywhere from 40 -72 mph • The strongest tornado is called and F-5. The winds can be anywhere from 261 -318 mph.

Damage • During a tornado very little damage can occur or massive amounts of damage. • During an F-0 minor damages to houses, and trees can be knocked down. • During an F-5 tornado the most damage can be done. Houses can be lifted from their foundations, concrete structures can be damaged. Cars can also be thrown during this storm.

What should I do during a Tornado? • Go to the basement of your house and get away from windows. If your house does not have a basement get into a room that is in the middle of your house that does not have windows. • If possible try to put items on top of you like a mattress or get behind sturdy furniture.

Your mission!!!!! • You are in an area where many tornadoes occur. You are going to attempt to build a house that can withstand any tornado. With the materials that are provided create a “tornado-proof” house. We will then test them to see if they can withstand a tornado.