Glitter Tornadoes

by R. Burnett,
Teacher of Geography

As part of our weather and climate topic in Year 7, we study different types of extreme weathers; for example, tornadoes. We look at the formation and effects of tornadoes and some real life examples across the world. Obviously we don’t experience regular tornadoes in the UK so students may find it hard to visualise what tornadoes look like, which could impair their understanding of how they form.

A simple and fun way to bring tornadoes alive is making glitter tornadoes - another wonderful idea given by our student teacher - using jars filled with water and glitter. I used these with students to help visualise what a tornado looks like, which give a deeper understanding of the formation. 

It is a very simple visual and kinaesthetic activity which should engage various learning preferences. It also allows students to work in pairs or groups. We had our more able students annotate the glitter tornadoes with some keywords and students then wrote an explanation of how they formed. This encouraged independent thinking and stretched our more able students. Students really enjoyed this activity and benefited from the practical and hands on activity.