Volcanoes are an opening in the surface of the Earth where gas, hot magma and ash can escape. The name for Volcanoes comes from the name of the Roman God Vulcan who was the god of fire. The surface of the Earth is made up of “tectonic plates”. These fit together like jigsaw puzzle pieces and volcanoes can form at the meeting points. Magma is the name given to hot liquid rock inside a volcano. Once it leaves the volcano, it’s known as lava. Lava can reach over 1000°C and has the potential to burn everything in its path!
To make your volcano the first thing that you need to do is get your thick piece of cardboard. This is going to be the base of your volcano. You then need to get your yogurt pot and tape this to the cardboard base.
You are now going to build the volcano around the pot but making sure that you leave an opening at the top. Now there are a couple of different ways that you can make your volcano. You can either use clay (like air dry clay/ modelling clay) to build up the shape of your volcano. The other option is to use Papier Mache (PVA glue and paper). Either option will work
Once you have finished making your volcano you will need to leave it to dry and that will probably be overnight. When it is dry you can decorate it if you would like to, but it will be ready to set up your volcanic eruption. You may need an adult to help with this!
To do this you first need to add vinegar into the centre of your volcano. You are then going to add a spoonful of bicarbonate of soda.
You should see a reaction start to happen as soon as you add the bicarbonate of soda. You should see lots of bubbles and foam rising up out of the top of the volcano. This is caused because when you mix vinegar is an acid and bicarbonate of soda is an alkali (have a look at our first science session on indicators). When we mix them together we get a reaction and carbon dioxide bubbles are formed which rise to the top and bubble out of the top of your volcano.
For more information on this activity have a look at the video tutorial on the Surrey Libraries Facebook Page or the Surrey Libraries YouTube Channel
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