It's landforms week at our house and yes, we made a volcano model. It's not exactly like the ones in the instructions we followed. I decided not to use paper mache or clay to form the volcano, my son doesn't have the patience yet to wait very long for the end results.
Instead we used crumpled up kraft paper (it's already brown) and wrapped it around an empty bottle. I taped it down around the top of the bottle with masking tape. We added a couple of crumpled paper boulders and some toy dinosaurs for scenery. I lined the cardboard box with a puppy training pad, just in case things got messy.
After the first attempt at adding baking soda to vinegar, we waited for the eruption and nothing happened. So I added a little more vinegar and gave the mountain a swish to mix it. Then we finally got some foamy, barely pink (a few drops of red food coloring was not enough!) lava erupting over the top.
It was anti-climatic for me to say the least, but my son thought it was still pretty cool! The best part was he could build it and see it erupt all within about an hour! I'm sure we will make a more realistic and technically correct one when he is older.
Sep 15, 2010
Quick and Easy Volcano Model
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3 comments:
Ugh. I hated doing the volcano project! We finally got wise and made it small--using a tiny bottle or votive as the volcano "insides". Nobody said it had to be huge, right??? ;) That said--I always loved doing dioramas.
I think that is still great to do with your child! Looks like alot of fun! Great job on doing the volcano!
Oh, this is a perfect, more low-tech one great for younger kids! Good idea.
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