What is a tornado?

Tornado forming - click the refresh button on your browser to see the animation

Paige and Ellie are sometimes in a crisis for one reason or another.  A few days ago we had a centipede in the kitchen - this caused a major panic.  Another day it was a thunderstorm and lightening.

We have found that even these situations can be great opportunity to learn. 

When is a bug dangerous?  Are there different types of centipedes? Was this a baby or a grown-up centipede?

Does lightning always strike your house?  How far away is a storm if you see the flash then count the seconds till the bang?

Tornados were in the news but they still seemed to be a distant threat until one hit a neighborhood closeby.  So Paige used her animation and drawing skills to visualize a tornado from pictures and video.  Paige and Ellie also thought about a safe place to go and a disaster kit that we could keep in the basement. 

What should we keep in the disaster kit?

Have a look at this related post
http://adlcprojects.blogspot.com/2011/06/natural-disasters-and-how-to-prepare.html

The funnel cloud touches down