Tornadoes are the most violent storms on earth. Raging at speeds of up to 300 miles per hour, their awesome winds can flip cars through the air like leaves, snap trees like matchsticks, and reduce entire towns to kindling. For most Americans, the sight of a speeding twister means one thing--take cover. But for a group of thrill seekers known as the "Storm Chasers," it's an opportunity to go one-on-one with nature's fury. Cruising a desolate stretch of Oklahoma known as "Tornado Alley," the chasers risk their lives to capture astonishing, up-close video footage of the raw power, strange beauty, and howling force of these incredible storms. This episode of Investigative Reports would be useful for classes on science, weather, geography and journalism. It is appropriate for middle school and high school.

• Doppler radar
• amateurs
• camaraderie
• character
• deployment
• differential
• documentation
• dynamics
• elusive
• enthusiasts
• evaporate
• folklore
• foremost
• frequency
• frustrating
• hypothesis
• indulge
• kindling
• meteorologist
• obsessed
• perversion
• precursor
• resolution
• statistics
• suspicious
• unique
• vigorously
• wizardry

1. One of the most common topics of conversation between people is the weather. Why do tornadoes, like most other conditions of extreme weather, fascinate people? What is it about them that people find so interesting?

2. Different areas of the country, and the world, experience different weather conditions. How do geographic features add to the likelihood of tornadoes and severe weather?

3. "Storm Chasers" are like any other group or club that share a common interest. What are the social aspects of tornado chasing?

4. Tornadoes are one of nature's fiercest forces. What other forces of nature are so fierce as to control or alter the environment and thwart humankind's attempts to tame or regulate them?

5. Although tornadoes have impeded humankind's attempts to control the forces of nature, technology has aided in reducing the devastating effects of tornadoes. What role has technology played in curtailing the loss of life that results from a tornado, or any other form of severe weather?

1. Imagine that you are a "Storm Chaser" and you are reporting a tornado to your television audience. Give a verbal description of the tornado itself, the accompanying weather conditions, and the effects of the storm.

2. Create a poster illustrating the necessary conditions and the evolution of a storm to a tornado.