Background

For Christmas, in 1993, one of my sons received a Pet Tornado, which consisted of a plastic bottle, filled with water and nicely painted with a storm scene, so that "white, fluffy clouds" were not visible. When you picked up the thing and gave it a little shake, it bothered the tornado enough that it would make the storm scene look real.

Last week or so (July, 1994), my son came home from school, and knew how to capture Wild Baby Tornados. So we got some pop bottles, cleaned the label off of them, and caught some of the little buggers.

We kept a few at home, and I took some to work, putting them on the book-box above my desk. For a while, people were coming by and asking what they were, so I thought I'd write it up.

Instructions

While full-grown tornadoes are very dangerous, it should be noted that baby tornadoes like these are not, not only because they are small, but because they are trapped in bottles.

You can capture your own Wild Baby Tornado! I, personally, used 16 ounce glass pop bottles, though, I'm sure other clear (preferably flat-bottom and glass) bottles could be used:

Simply follow these directions:

1. (Kids, make sure Mom or Dad help, at least with this step.) Clean the label completely off the bottle. Soaking it in very hot water works great, though you may still have to scrape some of the glue off.
2. Clean/Rinse the bottle out well - If you clean it with soap, make sure that ALL the soap is out of the bottle. (I know... You'll be adding some in, but Baby Tornados don't like TOO much soap.)
3. Fill the bottle almost to the top (in a pop bottle, to the "bend") with water, and put two (2) or three (3) DROPS of dishwashing soap in the water - Wild Baby Tornadoes LOVE slightly soapy water!
4. Scoop some air and throw it at the bottle - Be very careful not to knock the bottle over!
5. Put the lid tightly on the bottle - If you don't the Tornado will attempt to escape, and make a wet mess all over the place! (You don't have to be REALLY fast in this step... If you caught a baby tornado, it will be very confused for a few moments.)
6. Check to see if you caught one:
   1. Give the bottle a good shake, to make sure the Baby  Tornado gets completely covered with the soap,

   2. End your shaking with a clock-wise twist. (If you're in Australia, this MAY be counter-clock-wise.) -If you caught one, you should be able to see it.

7. You should notice some "white, fluffy clouds" at the top of the bottle ... They help to trap your Baby Tornado in the bottle. That means you can remove the lid and add 3-4 drops of food coloring to the mix - This will make your Wild Baby Tornado much more fascinating to watch. (Don't worry... The food coloring doesn't hurt the Baby Tornado.)

To see your captured Wild Baby Tornado, you must pick up the bottle, and give it a shake, with a clock-wise twist to the shake. This bothers the baby tornados enough that they try to get out of the "clouds".

If you look fast enough, you will see the tornado come out! And if you twist/shake hard enough, the tornado will stretch from the "clouds" to the bottom of the bottle! You may want to hold the bottle up to the light, so you can see the tornado easier.

KIDS OF ALL AGES LOVE TO WATCH CAPTURED WILD BABY TORNADOS!

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by Bill Sanders © February 02, 2007 - email:
 

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