Volcano Madness is an easy to do exercise that illustrates the explosive nature of volcanoes and lava flows. Students can build their own volcano with flowing red "lava" from basic household items.
Items you'll need include:
- Clean, empty liter soda bottle
- Sand or loose soil (or substitute paper mache)
- 1 cup water
- 1 tbsp. baking soda
- 1 tbsp. liquid dishwashing detergent
- Red or other volcano color food coloring
- Plastic dinosaurs or other toys for scale
- 1 cup white vinegar
Instructions:
Fill the bottle with water, baking soda, liquid dishwashing detergent and 10 drops of red food coloring.Bury the bottle in the sand on a beach and build a sand volcano around the bottle. Or similarly bury the bottle in some soil. (If you prefer, students may use paper mache to create their own volcanic mountain as part of the volcano learning. Be sure to coat the paper with a va
rnish to protect the volcano during eruption.)
Place some plastic dinosaurs or toys around the volcano for scale.
Pour the vinegar into the bottle and scream "Volcano! Volcano! Volcano!" Red foam "lava" will bubble and spray out the top of the volcano and down the mountain of sand, covering the toys.