Name: Fernandez Acosta Yessica

Grade Level of Lesson Taught: fifth grade

Make a Tornado in a Jar!
TEKS:
(2) Scientific investigation and reasoning. The student uses scientific methods during laboratory
and outdoor investigations. The student is expected to:
(F) communicate valid conclusions in both written and verbal forms; and
Objective: The students will learn about how the vortex (the region in a stirred fluid that
revolves around the middle axis line) of the tornado is formed.
Scientific Content-
Vortex: a whirling mass of air, esp. one in the form of a visible column or spiral, as a tornado.
Tornado: a violently rotating column of air touching the ground, usually attached to the base of a
thunderstorm.
Friction: a force that resists the sliding or rolling of one solid object over another.
Sources:
https://www.weather.gov/phi/TornadoDefinition
https://www.thefreedictionary.com/vortex
https://www.britannica.com/science/friction
Experiment:
Materials:
8 oz. jar with lid
Water
1 teaspoon of vinegar
1 teaspoon of liquid dish soap
A pinch of glitter
Procedure:
1. Fill the jar ¾ of water.
2. Put in the vinegar and the dish soap.
3. Sprinkle the pinch of glitter.
4. Close the lid and twist the jar.
What is happening? This will be explained as we are doing the experiment.
As the students are twisting the jar, friction is causing the water to slide against the glass walls.
Both the glass jar and the fluid are spinning as the students twist the jar. However, the fluid
toward the inside takes longer to move. When the students stop rotating the jar, the fluid inside
keeps spinning and the outer fluid slows down; this causes a little twister (the vortex) to be
visible for a few seconds.
http://eo.ucar.edu/kids/dangerwx/tornado4.htm
Inquiry-Based-
The students will be first asked to use specific materials such as the vinegar, the soap, an
eight oz jar, and glitter to make a tornado to be visible for a few seconds. In order to make the
tornado visible, the students need to use an appropriate technique while swirling the jar. They
need to swirl it as fast as they can. If they swirl with a slow motion the tornado will not be visible
because there would not be enough friction. When we finalize the experiment I will ask them,
“how do you think the tornado was formed?”. The students will need to start interpreting their
observation from the experiment.
Assessment -1 point
Summative Oral Questions:
1. What causes the water to slide against the walls?
2. What happened to the inner fluid as you twisted the jar?
3. How was the vortex formed?