A Volcano Lesson

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We are doing much more hands on learning now in our homeschool and part of that is making learning a fun experience that is just a part of our life and who we are. So yes, even on vacation this fall, we had our times of learning. But the kids never even knew that they were “doing school”.

One day we made a volcano!

Here is what we used –

a soda bottle (20oz)
baking soda
vinegar
red food coloring
dirt
army guys

 First we filled the bottle about half full of baking soda. Then we buried the bottle in the dirt. We packed it around the bottle pretty tight to make sure that the bottle would stay upright.

 
And then we “decortated” the volcano with sticks, grass, flowers and even army guys! We colored our vinegar red to make it look just a little more like “lava”. We started out with about a cup of vinegar.
 
 
And then we were ready for the action. Using a funnel we QUICKLY poured the vinegar into the bottle. We learned the hard way that you must move back very fast. Or you will wear red!!
 
The second time we tried it we didn’t use the funnel. It was cleaner for the one pouring but it
didn’t have the same “explosive” effect as with the funnel.
The eruption

We were then able to show the children about erosion and the effect that lava and even water can have on the land. Our “lava” knocked down “trees” and soldiers and made ruts in the dirt. It was an amazing science lesson.

You really should try it! It is a fun way to teach a lesson and a project that the whole family can do.

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