Virtuous vortex
A tornado is a type of vortex -- a spinning column of air with some water vapor. You can make a tornado quite easily.

Take two 2-liter soda bottles, fill one with water and some food coloring, and connect the bottles with a "tornado tube" (available from Edmund Scientific and many toy stores). (If you're feeling cheap, Dorothy suggests old-fashioned duct tape.) One tube will be upside down, the other rightside up.

Move the water-filled bottle to the top, give the bottles a twist, and a vortex will flow into the lower bottle.

Question: Why does the vortex form?

Question: How can you change the size, shape, and duration of the vortex?

Question: What's this got to do with twisters?

Answers: See "What's Happening" on this page.

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