Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Science Craft: Tornado in a Bottle

I've seen a number of different recipes for a tornado in a bottle all over Pinterest. Many used two bottles connected together, but for 100 kids I just didn't want to mess with that. I tried a few that included dish soap, and while the bubbles showed off the swirling, it eventually got too bubbly to see. I then found some that used colored lamp oil, which was REALLY cool, but that stuff was too expensive for 100 kids. I went with vegetable oil instead.
Each kid needed:
  • 1 bottle of water (I initially asked for donations of empty bottles, but didn't get enough, so we just bought a few cases so they already had water in them)
  • 1 drop of food coloring (any more and it would be too dark to see)
  • 25ish drops of oil (probably could have used more, I was afraid I would run out but we never even came close)
  • a sprinkle of glitter
I had a volunteer hot glue the tops on once everything was in the bottle.

It took most kids a few tries, but eventually they all were able to see the tornado. I heard sooooo many "WOW!"s that day. :)



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