Make Your Own Tornado in a Bottle!
They say if you don’t like the weather in Oklahoma, wait five minutes. But this past week, western Oklahoma’s been holding its breath— watching radar maps, tying down porch furniture, and wondering if that black cloud means business.
With so much swirling in the skies lately, it only makes sense to spin a little science of our own. This week, we’re making a Tornado in a Bottle—a fun, simple project that lets kids explore the power of vortex motion (without needing a storm shelter).
What You’ll Need: - 2 clear plastic bottles (like 16 oz. or 2-liter soda bottles) - Water - Duct tape (or a special tornado connector if you have one) - A few drops of dish soap - Optional: glitter, food coloring, or tiny plastic confetti for effect Instructions: 1 Fill one bottle about ¾ full with water. 2 Add a few drops of dish soap, and a couple of drops of food coloring or glitter if you want your tornado to really pop!
3 Place the empty bottle upside down on top of the full one, aligning the necks.
4 Use duct tape to secure the two bottles tightly together—wrap several layers to make sure it’s sealed and sturdy.
5 Turn the bottles upside down (so the full one is on top), swirl the bottle in a circular motion, and watch the tornado form as the water drains down.
See SCIENCE page 2.
The swirling creates a vortex, which looks just like a mini-tornado—and behaves in much the same way. It’s the same physics that happens in the atmosphere when warm and cool air mix in just the wrong (or right) way.
Science Behind the Spin: Tornadoes form when warm, moist air near the ground crashes into cool, dry air above. Add some wind shear (winds blowing at different speeds and directions), and you get rotation in the clouds.
When you spin your bottle, you’re creating a mini version of that—complete with a visible vortex thanks to the water, soap, and gravity doing their thing.
Wrap-Up: So while we might not be able to predict if we’ll get a full-on storm or just another false alarm, we can control one twister this summer—the one in your kitchen.
Snap a photo of your homemade tornado and share it with friends or family—you might just inspire someone else to give it a spin!
