lowcountry parent & family life 
Storm Simulation
Mark the beginning of hurricane season by making a hurricane in a bowl
A hurricane is born when a cluster of thunderstorms move over the warm ocean waters near the Equator. Trade winds moving in opposite directions collide and begin to rotate the storm in a counterclockwise direction around an “eye.” The “eye” is the calmest part of the storm. Once winds reach 74 mph or more the storm is officially a hurricane. You can duplicate the winds of a hurricane and see the eye of the storm with this fun project.
Materials
large round bowl
spoon
food coloring
water
Instructions
Fill the bowl with water.
Start stirring the water in a counterclockwise direction. Once it starts to spin with great force pull the spoon out.
Carefully drop four or five drops food coloring into the center of the “storm.”
Watch as the droplets travel outward from the “eye” to the outer bands of the “storm.”
To demonstrate the strength of hurricane winds drop different size objects into the hurricane to show how things get uprooted and carried away during one of these dangerous storms.
Challenge
Older children may want to explore wind speed further by creating a wind vane. A change in wind direction often indicates a sudden change to severe weather. To make a wind vane with your older child, you’ll need a straw, a straight pin, a piece of clay, an arrow shaped piece of cardboard and a paper plate. First, mark N, S, E, and W on the plate. Then, poke the straight pin through the center of the straw and into the eraser of the pencil (to form a “T”). Tape the arrow shape onto one end of the straw. Stick the point of the pencil into the clay so it stands securely on its own. Test your wind vane by blowing on the arrow. The arrow will point in the direction the wind is blowing.
In addition to having fun family time with this activity, it also reinforces the lessons your children learn in school. This activity helps meet the following South Carolina Department of Education Curriculum Standards:
2-3.1 Explain the effects of moving air as it interacts with objects.
2-3.2 Recall weather terminology (including temperature, wind direction, wind speed, and precipitation as rain, snow, sleet, and hail).
2-3.4 Carry out procedures to measure and record daily weather conditions (including temperature, precipitation amounts, wind speed as measured on the Beaufort scale, and wind direction as measured with a windsock or wind vane).
Robin Berlinsky is director of education at The Children’s Museum of the Lowcountry, owner of niki leigh spa parties, co-owner of Baby Scholars parenting classes, and is a professor in the School of Education at The College of Charleston. She has taught in the Charleston County School system for eight years and has three children.
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