Want to create your very own tornado? This is science at its most exhilarating best, allowing a great visual demonstration of a tornado in a bottle.

The Whirlpool Bottle valve enables you to join two soft drink bottles together (not included) which allows you to create a swirling, twisting tornado. Use it to study properties of air as well as the atmospheric conditions needed to create a tornado vortex. This brightly coloured valve is great for any unit on weather or natural disasters.

What you get

Whirlpool Bottle Science. Includes one bottle valve. Colours vary. Plastic bottles not included.

How does it work?

Almost fill a one litre plastic bottle with water. Screw the tornado connector onto the almost filled bottle then attach the empty bottle to the other side (so it looks like an hour glass). Turn the bottles upside down, swish the water around and, presto, a cool tornado appears. This demonstration shows that air takes up space (or volume) and exerts a pressure. It also shows that when water flows down, air must move up. Add some food colouring to the water to get a different visual effect. Lots of fun!

Teach

• Kinetic and potential energy
• Properties of air: it takes up space and exerts pressure
• Science of vortex energy (twisting, swirling force)
• Tornadoes & Whirlpools