Volcano Project Activity

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Objective: The "how to make a volcano" science project is designed to help young students learn more about earth science by looking specifically at volcanoes. We'll also learn how common household items can be used to build useful models, with an element of creativity required to make the model realistic. Hopefully we'll discover a few new science terms along the way as well. The experiment is done in two steps. First, we figure out how to make a volcano, then we look at fun ways to make it erupt.

 


Materials needed to Make a Volcano with Paper-Mache

- 1 newspaper
- 1-2 cups flour, depending on the volcano size desired
- 1-2 cups water
- 1 medium size bowl
- 1 fork or spoon to stir with
- 1 pair of scissors
- 1 roll scotch or masking tape
- 1 small plastic bag
- 1 pencil or marker
- 1 plastic or glass bottle
- 1 medium size box
- Paint
- 1 medium size paint brush, (a couple more if you have several helpers)
- Rocks, sticks, tips of pine trees or shrubs and anything else you would like to use to decorate the volcano with to make it more realistic.

 

Notes on the above materials:

  • First, just about any drink bottle will work, but keep in mind that bottle size will determine volcano height. That's why the amount of flour and water is shown as variable.
  • Second, having sides around the volcano helps keep the "lava". However, if having sides is not desired, then substitute a flat piece of cardboard, or even some thin plywood for the box as a stable base for the model volcano.
  • Finally, any paint will do, but a water based acrylic is recommended for easy clean up. They also dry quickly with little need to vent paint fumes. Green, blue, yellow, red, white and black or brown should provide plenty of variety. We cut the bottom out of a small Styrofoam glass to use for mixing colors and dispensing the paint.

Project Steps:

  • Get a medium size box and mark where you want to cut the sides.
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  • Cut the box, but do not discard the sides.
  • Place the bottle in the box and draw a circle around its base big enough for the bottle to slip through.
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  • Cut the box sides into about 1 inch strips.
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  • Cut the hole and make sure the box fits over the bottle.
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  • Cover the bottle with a small plastic bag to keep building materials from sticking to the side of the bottle.
  • Make a volcano structure around the bottle with 1 inch cardboard strips that were left over from the cutoff sides of the box. Staples can be used to hold the strips together if desired, but be sure to put plenty of tape around the crater of the volcano, and make sure not to cover the top of the bottle up.
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  • Mix about a cup of flour with enough water to make homemade paste. It should be about the consistency of elmers glue.
  • Cut or tear several dozen 1 inch strips of newpaper, but leave at least a sheet or two to put under the box to make the cleanup part easy.
  • Holding one end of a newspaper strip, drag it through the paste and gently squeegee off any excess glue with fingers on your other hand. The goal is for the paper to be wet, but not dripping with glue.
  • Add each glue-soaked strip of newspaper to the volcano support structure, gently smoothing each down as you go. If the forming mountainsides get too much glue on them (you'll know), just add some dry strips to soak it up.
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  • Continue until there are several layers of newspaper strips over the entire mountain, and on the bottom of the box.
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  • Paint the volcano to make it as realistic as you can. For example - Green makes a great start for grass, trees, etc - and if the volcano is tall, only rocks can be seen near the top. We used brown for that. And for Sky we used blue.
  • You can go to the next step if desired, but it would be best to let the paint dry first if you can afford the time.
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  • Now decorate the volcano to make it look even more realistic. Add rocks, sticks for fallen tree-trunks, bushes, maybe even houses from a monopoly set, etc. (Then discuss why it might not be a good idea to live near a volcano).
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