V is for Volcano

The volcano topic is so much fun to teach. We discussed why we have volcanos and where you can find them, focusing on the fact that there aren't ANY that are close to where we live. I had thought that emphasizing the fact that we don't live near any active volcanos was rather funny when I read it in Lara's description for this theme, but let me tell you that I noticed some of the kids' eyes getting pretty big as I talked about how volcanos erupt. So in the end I talked about how volcanos are one way that new islands, like Hawaii, are made. They seemed to like that.

I also had a piece of volcanic rock from Mt. Vesuvius that I passed around so the kids could see how bits of lava that shoot out from a volcanic eruption form porous rocks.

After circle time all the kids got to make their own little volcanos. Each child got to pick several dinosaur pieces (again, no real people or towns in this diorama!). We used an 8 ounce water bottle as our volcano and plaster of Paris to hold it in place.

Just a note if you want to do this project in the future, please note that when the box says that the stuff dries quickly, they are not joking! I originally tried to make a bucket full of it only to have it become unmanageable very quickly. So I ended up sending the kids off to play while I regrouped. I mixed individual batches, called one kid back at a time, and poured and molded the plaster of Paris up around their bottles, letting them put in the trees, rocks, and dinosaurs as they wanted. It was much easier this way. In the end, I only ended up losing three containers and one wooden spoon - ha!

I then showed the kids "The Magic School Bus Blows Its Top." It talks about how an island is formed from an underwater volcano. The kids were entranced!

We then went outside where we made a volcano "erupt" using baking soda and water in a small water bottle. Their volcano masterpieces weren't dry enough yet so I just put some baking soda and loosely capped them. You can add your own vinegar and let them erupt at home over the next day or two. Just make sure you do it outside in case the lava overflows!

We ended up running out of time, so our worksheets were sent home as homework.

I also forgot to let the kids watch this video of a volcano erupting. Here's the link in case you want to show it to them: wide shot of erupting volcano / lake in foreground.

I also sent home some dinosaur fossils and stickers that I bought back at the beginning of the year from Oriental Trading, but that I'd forgotten I had back when I did the unit on dinosaurs and fossils. (Just so you don't get confused as to what the theme was for this time!) I think it was Simone who asked why they were all picking out dinosaur fossils when that wasn't the theme. Too cute!

Oh, another funny side note. When we were putting together the volcanoes, the kids noticed that the plaster of Paris got pretty hot once it was mixed. It was so funny hearing them (particularly the boys) talk about how hot it was and that it was so hot that if they touched it too long it would kill them. Ha! It could have made a good lesson on exothermic reactions, but I thought that might be a bit too advanced for them at this point. Maybe next year in kindergarten!