Volcano Experiment

Here is the ever popular volcano eruption experiment.  I remember doing this one as a kid.  My brother had a dinosaur birthday party and Dad asked us to make a small volcano out of clay.  It was tough working with the hard clay but we made a small one.  Next Dad surrounded our little volcano with a lot of dirt and a few twigs to make trees. We thought it looked just like a real volcano.

Here in this photo I attempted to re-create Dad's volcano.

1. I found part of a box to build the volcano in. We used half a box that clothing is gift wrapped in.  The sides are flimsy so we taped them straight. 
2. Here I made a small volcano with model magic.  That stuff is much easier to use than modeling clay/air dry clay.  Model magic is stretchy, soft and light weight.  
3. The dirt in our yard did okay.  We (Zachary and I) poured dirt in the box and shaped it around our model magic volcano.  
4. To make the volcano erupt I put baking soda in the bottom.  I was not sure how much to put but the more vinegar you pour in later, then the more baking soda you will need at the bottom. 
5. Next I squirted the red food coloring in. The more the better.  
6. Last is the vinegar. Once you mix it with the baking soda it's all coming up. 
7. We erupted our volcano at our dinosaur play group. It was definitely the highlight of the day.

Dinosaurs

February 14-18

Books


       
Danny and the Dinosaur - Syd Hoff
                                
 

How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?- Jane Yolen and Mark Teague


Dinosaur Opposites- Paul and Henrietta Stickland



The Littlest Dinosaur- Michael Forman

Music

• I Am a Paleontologist- They Might Be Giants

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDDU7JqGs0E

• Walk the Dinosaur

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=733O0xJDx8o

Crafts

• Dinosaur picture painting

Activities

• Dinosaur Magnetics (Melissa and Doug)- Creative Play
• Dinosaur file folder matching activity (for image see blog post Jan 2010)
• Backyard dig for random objects
• Cornmeal dig for laminated dino bones/puzzle

Pieces for cornmeal dig

Dinosaurs

January 11-15

• Books- Danny and the Dinosaur
• Crafts- Making a foam dinosaur, dinosaur environment box,
• Activities- Lacing on dinosaur cut out, Dinosaur file folder
• Science- Volcano Eruption with baking soda, vinegar and food coloring, Dinosaur Egg Hatching
• Baking- salt dough volcano for science experiment

Lacing Directions

1. Print out a picture of a dinosaur
2. Cut out
3. Glue to construction paper or cardboard
4. Cut out around cardboard
5. Punch holes around the edges
6. Tie a string/yarn around one hole. Attach masking tape to the end to make it firm for pointing through the holes.

This is the image we used to make a dinosaur lacing activity.