MATERIALS:
A small plastic or paper cup, clay, vinegar, baking soda, flour, a cookie sheet, two measuring cups, measuring spoons, red food coloring (optional)
TIME FRAME:
30 – 60 minutes
PROCEDURE:
- Place your cup on your cookie sheet
- Using your clay, create your volcano over the cup remembering to leave the opening open so your volcano can explode later!
- Once you are happy with how your volcano looks, mix together 1 tablespoon baking soda and 1 tablespoon flour in one of your measuring cups
- Pour your mixture into the top of your volcano
- Add in 10-20 drops of red food coloring
- Pour about 1/2 cup of vinegar into the top of your volcano and watch it “explode”!!!
REFLECTION:
What happened? How does this activity mimic an actual erupting volcano?
TIDBITS:
- A volcano is a landform (usually a mountain) where molten rock erupts through the surface of the planet.
- Magma is liquid rock inside a volcano. Lava is the magma that flows out of a volcano. Basalt is the dark, heavy volcanic rock that is lava after it cools and it makes up most of the world’s oceanic crust!
- Pumice is volcanic rock and is the only rock that can float in water.
TIPS:
- This is a very messy and quite stinky activity! I highly recommend exploding your volcano outside somewhere just in case your lava/vinegar overflows!
- After the first “explosion” and the foaming has calmed down, you can add another 1/2 cup of vinegar and watch it explode again!
xoxo,
M
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