Mother Nature’s Wrath
Our young and inquisitive Champs at our kindergarten @ Holland Village got a taste of mother nature’s ‘wrath’ recently when they learnt about tornadoes.
Through a hands-on learning session, our kindergarten Champs @ Holland Village learnt the science behind its formation and examined its destructive power on human infrastructure.
Weather – An All-time Favourite Topic at MindChamps @ Holland Village
While we hope never to experience a tornado in Singapore, tornadoes do occur in many parts of the world from America to Australia, Europe, Africa, parts of Asia and South America.
By now, our kindergarten Champs @ Holland Village are already familiar with the process of weather changes, such as from a sunny to a rainy day, or the times when they heard thunder before the rain and observed clouds forming in the sky.
Being eager learners, the kindergateners enthusiastically embraced learning about this unique weather phenomenon with an open mind.
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The ‘Twister’ Effect
Armed with simple materials such as water bottles and a vortex bottle connector, our kindergarten Champs @ Holland Village were going to simulate a tornado in a bottle.
After filling a bottle with water and ensuring that the caps are tightly sealed, they turned the bottles upside down with the water facing downwards, held the bottles by the lid and spun them very quickly. A vortex starts to form and that’s when the fun begins.
The little ones were thrilled to witness the ‘twister’ effect as the water in the bottle started to spiral downwards.
What’s a Supercell Thunderstorm Cloud? Our kindergarten Champs @ Holland Village will tell you!
This highly stimulating activity was enhanced when the Champs created a tornado model.
Plastic cups, crepe paper and cotton were used to simulate the clouds.
They learnt that a tornado is formed from a supercell thunderstorm cloud and then extends down to the ground in the shape of a funnel. To make the model more realistic, Champs added in ‘debris’ caused by a tornado surrounding the model.
Creating the model engages the Champs in sensory learning plus they are able to share their learnings with their family.
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Early Learning Science Journey
Introducing the topic of a tornado to their science learning journey encourages our young Champs to think deeper and introduce the destruction mother nature can do to our planet. Champs were aware that the tornado in a bottle was only a simulation and a real tornado is formed from thunderstorms where warm air and cool air meet and they create instability in the atmosphere.
Thanks to Teacher Syira from Terra Minds who engaged the Champs in this stimulating science programme and for bringing our Champs on an early learning science journey.
For those who are interested to see a real tornado, check out this 360 view of a close-range tornado.