Science Badge Update - Oakley's Volcano

Check out this amazing volcano that Oakley (Rm 22) built on the beach.

• First I made a volcano using sand at the beach

• My brother helped me build a moat around my volcano so the waves wouldn't wash it away

• Next I made a hole on top of the volcano. This is the vent

• Then I poured the baking soda into the hole. I coloured it with food colouring to make it look like lava.

• Last I poured in the white vinegar. The vinegar reacted with the baking soda and started to bubble up. But we discovered that there wasn't enough pressure to make it erupt properly. This is because there were other places for the pressure to escape like between the sand. I decided to try the experiment again.

• This time I buried a small Coke bottle in the sand. I put some coloured vinegar in it.

• I used a funnel to drop the baking soda into the bottle.

• This eruption was a lot bigger. This time there was only one way for the pressure to escape when the baking soda reacted with the vinegar and that was up and out the top!

• The bottom of the bottle is a magma chamber, and the vent is teh neck of the bottle. The sand was supposed to be like solid rock but sand is not solid. So the bottle helped to keep the pressure in like the rock would.

Well done Oakley!

Please send in photos of students with their Science Badge projects to share in next fortnights Pānui. Email marie.bianco@cotswold.school.nz