Abstract. There are many atmospheric phenomena which can be taught
in the frame of different subjects at secondary schools. Geography and
environmental education characteristically deal with observable natural
phenomena. Some of them can be easily modeled in a school laboratory, but in
spite of this neither the exact (phenomenological) description nor the
theoretical background of these phenomena are given in any of the curricula.
These phenomena include a wide scale of atmospheric and marine whirls. The
beauty and frightening effect of the vortices from dust devils and
waterspouts to hurricanes and cyclones can be a great motivating force for
the students to learn more about the physics of these phenomena. This paper
demonstrates the introductory steps of the elaboration of a learning
material about the atmospheric eddies and shows how can be connected the
formal and non-formal teaching methods. To construct the teaching material
the principles of the MER (Model of Educational Reconstruction) will be
applied (Niebert and Gropengiesser, 2013), having planned the educational
reconstruction of the scientific content we suggest simple conceptual and
mathematical description of atmospheric whirls of tornadic type at secondary
school level.