Creation of a Virtual Tornadic Thunderstorm: Enabling Student-Centered Learning about Complex Storm-Scale Atmospheric Dynamics

A virtual tornadic supercell thunderstorm has been created to facilitate improved student understanding of both the atmospheric dynamics involved and the visual characteristics of such a storm. The virtual activity encourages student-motivated learning by bringing this complex and fascinating system to the classroom. Students have the ability to navigate throughout the system, and must make decisions (that in the real world would be necessary for their safety) based on the what they infer about atmospheric dynamics.