Try This: Mini Volcano
Facts Fun
The world's most active region for volcanoes lies in what is called the Ring of Fire, a circular region extending around the Pacific Ocean from East Asia to the United States.
QUESTION
What does an erupting volcano look like?
MATERIALS
Small plastic bottle
Baking soda
Wide tray or baking pan
Sand or dirt
½ cup vinegar
Measuring cup with a pouring lip
Red food coloring
PROCEDURE:
Fill the bottle one-quarter to half full of baking soda and place it in the middle of the tray.
Pile the sand around the bottle so that you can just see the opening. At this point it should look like a small volcano.
Pour the vinegar into the measuring cup.
Place several drops of food coloring into your vinegar and quickly pour it into the bottle top.
WHAT'S HAPPENING
You've already seen what kind of reaction occurs when baking soda and vinegar are combined. The red coloring makes this reaction appear to produce lava. In real volcanoes, you wouldn't find any vinegar, but you would find hot gases and liquid rocks under intense pressure. When the pressure builds up too much, the volcano explodes, and all the hot gases and rocks that have melted under the heat finally burst forth in the form of either hot ash or molten lava.
Science Online
The U.S. Geological Services Cascade Volcano Observatory (CVO) includes links to all of the world's known volcanoes. Visit
Head in the Clouds
Do you ever see the shapes of people or animals when you look at the clouds? Connect the numbered dots and then the lettered dots to see what familiar shape is floating overhead in this beautiful sky. HINT: To make a better cloud picture, connect the dots with curved lines instead of straight lines.
