Ms. Sarah found a way to make a tornado by using milk (which we added a few drops of blue food coloring to for this video) and water. You can recreate this experiment at home by following the steps illustrated by Ms. Sarah in this video. She used one of the droppers you use to give medicine to an infant or toddler. It is very easy and as you can tell by the children's reactions, very exciting. This experiment causes the children to use the process of scientific reasoning to figure out how the tornado works. Vocabulary used after this experiment was done included words like vortex, circular, uplift, swirling and spinning. The children also expanded on the activity by trying to recreate the experiment by placing the milk at the top of the container to see if the results would be the same. They made their hypothesis and tested them. The children were also encouraged to do this experiment without the teachers help to see if they could recreate the results. The act of squeezing the bulb, controlling the flow of milk and placing the milk carefully at the bottom of the container took a large amount of concentration and fine motor control. The children also had to wait patiently for their turn and negotiate who would be first and if they would work together. And they thought they were just playing in milk and water! Enjoy the video and let us know how the experiment works at your home. Take your own video and send it to us. If you don't video your child's face we will post it on our classroom blog.
