Taking On Tornadoes

Tornadoes are some of nature’s most destructive forces. They can topple trees, flip cars, and rip through houses. Engineer Partha Sarkar and his team at Iowa State University want to find ways to build homes that can stand up to tornadoes. They create artificial twisters in a machine called a tornado simulator. Scholastic News spoke with Sarkar about his work. 

Tornadoes are powerful forces. They can topple trees, flip cars, and rip through houses. Engineer Partha Sarkar wants to find ways to build homes that can stand up to tornadoes. He and his team at Iowa State University create artificial twisters. They use a machine called a tornado simulator. Scholastic News spoke with Sarkar about his work. 

Partha Sarkar: During a thunderstorm, certain conditions can create a spinning mass of air. This is called a vortex. When that vortex touches the ground, it is known as a tornado.

Partha Sarkar: During a thunderstorm, certain conditions can create a spinning mass of air. This is called a vortex. When it touches the ground, it is known as a tornado.

Sarkar: Tornadoes have very high winds. In some, you can get winds over 135 miles per hour. That wind creates a lot of flying debris, like tree branches. Both the wind and the debris can damage buildings. There’s also suction at the center of a tornado. It sucks things up like a vacuum. 

Sarkar: Tornadoes have very high winds. In some, you can get winds over 135 miles per hour. That wind creates a lot of flying debris, like tree branches. Both the wind and the debris can damage buildings. There’s also suction at the center of a tornado. It sucks things up like a vacuum. 

Sarkar: It makes a sort of mini tornado. It creates rotating winds, and it shows us how those winds affect objects on the ground, like houses. 

Sarkar: It makes a sort of mini tornado. It creates rotating winds. It shows us how those winds affect objects on the ground, like houses. 

Sarkar: Our tornado simulator is shaped like a cylinder. It has a powerful fan at the top that sucks up air. The air is then pushed back down. As it moves, the air hits blades that cause it to spin. This creates a vortex. We put models of buildings below the simulator. We can move the vortex over them, like a real tornado moves over land.

Sarkar: Our tornado simulator is shaped like a cylinder. It has a powerful fan at the top that sucks up air. The air is then pushed back down. As it moves, the air hits blades that cause it to spin. This creates a vortex. We put models of buildings below the simulator. We can move the vortex over them, like a real tornado moves over land.

Sarkar: The models are connected to special sensors. These sensors measure the amount of pressure the winds put on different parts of a building. This tells us what kinds of damage would occur to a real building. 

Sarkar: The models are connected to special sensors. These sensors measure the pressure the winds put on a building. This tells us what kinds of damage would occur to a real building.

Sarkar: No. We make a vortex with winds of just 20 miles per hour. Once we know how those winds affect our models, a computer tells us what the effects of stronger winds would be.

Sarkar: No. We make a vortex with winds of just 20 miles per hour. We look at how those winds affect our models. Then a computer tells us what the effects of stronger winds would be.  

Sarkar: One thing we’ve learned is that the roof is often the most vulnerable, or easily damaged, part of a building. So it’s important to design strong roofs. The goal is to make safer buildings. That’s what this work is all about.

Sarkar: One thing we’ve learned is that the roof is often the most easily damaged part of a building. So it’s important to design strong roofs. The goal is to make safer buildings. That’s what this work is all about.

1. In the article, which details describe who the title "Taking on Tornadoes" is talking about?

2. According to the article, why are tornadoes some of nature's most destructive forces?

3. How does the tornado simulator create artificial twisters?

4. According to the article, how does the artificial tornado differ from a real twister?

5. How does the photograph above help support the description of the tornado simulator?

1. In the article, which details describe who the title "Taking on Tornadoes" is talking about?

2. According to the article, why are tornadoes some of nature's most destructive forces?

3. How does the tornado simulator create artificial twisters?

4. According to the article, how does the artificial tornado differ from a real twister?

5. How does the photograph above help support the description of the tornado simulator?