Make a Hurricane

We have been exploring weather activities lately. Clouds, wind, storms. Really big storms. Learn more about hurricanes and make a hurricane with us.

Hurricanes

We started our learning adventure by reading a book. Gail Gibbons was an obvious choice for an author. She has so many great non-fiction books for kids. Her book, Hurricanes!, was full of wonderful information and illustrations. You can use my Amazon affiliate link to find out more about the book.

In Hurricanes!, we learned that hurricanes have lots of wind and rain, they need warm, moist air to form. We learned that hurricanes can cause significant damage to buildings and the land. The damage can be caused by the wind and rain or by storm surges, where the ocean rises up much higher than normal.

We also read more about hurricanes in The Magic School Bus Inside A Hurricane. I’ve always loved The Magic School Bus series. They were some of my favorite books to read as a kid. Aiden enjoys reading them as well, but we usually don’t get through reading the entire page before he wants to go on to the next {which is totally fine}. The book has at least 3 different types of things to read on each page – the main story, the speech bubbles of the characters, and the papers the students write. This could be confusing for a beginning reader, so be sure you walk them through the setup. It’s jam packed with information, so be prepared to learn a lot!

Make a Hurricane

Do you think you can make your own model of a hurricane? Gather the materials below and try it out.

Materials:

• Large round bowl of water
• Spoon
• Food coloring (any color)

Did you successfully make a hurricane?

Watch Aiden show you to make one:

Here are the written instructions:

1. Place your spoon in the bowl of water.
2. Stir the spoon in a circular motion around the side of the bowl until the water is moving quickly inside the bowl.
3. Add drops of food coloring into the center of the water.

The color will move from the center of the bowl and form bands like clouds in a hurricane.

 

Make a Hurricane Online

NOAA has a Create-a-Cane website where you can control winds, latitude, moisture, and sea temperature to create your own hurricane.

More Weather Activities for Kids

Check out these weather science activities from some of my blogger friends.

Bern from Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas explores the effects of hot and cold air.
Allison from Learn Play Imagine had fun observing conduction.
Megan from Coffee Cups and Crayons shows you how to make a cloud in a bottle.

And be sure to check the rest of our weather activities here at Inspiration Laboratories.

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This post was originally published on August 5, 2013.