volcano 2

volcano 2, originally uploaded by iamaprice(Amanda).

The kids had so much fun with this. Joshy asked me how volcanoes work one day so I decided to walk in Renee's footsteps and make a unit study of it. First we borrowed some books from the library to learn more about them, then found a couple of how-to videos online, rolled up our sleeves and paper-mached our model, drew diagrams, cut and pasted colorful bits of paper onto the dried mountain, had a chemistry lesson on the volatile nature of a combination of vinegar and baking soda, and then finally staged the eruption. We used a medium-sized water bottle that was easy to remove so we tried a few different colors for fun. Their favorite was "root beer". The sight of it foaming out of their volcano was apparently hilarious. What goes on in the mind of a four year old?

Anyway, it was messy but enjoyable. It took us over a month from start to finish as we only worked on it one day a week. I wish I had felt well enough to get my camera out for each stage.