Self Directed Science

Hello everyone! This is Noa and I’ll tell you about my science project. My project is about volcanoes. I had to collect information and show it in a way I could present to the class. I collected a whole lot of information and prepared an experiment. here is some of my info:

Volcanic stuff:

• Basalt is a dark heavy rock found on the ocean floor.
• Granite is a lighter rock in both weight and colour like most other igneous rocks which can be found on countertops.
• Pahoehoe is a quite fluid type of lava and it can form a thick crust that you can walk with red hot lava still under it! It cools into ropelike coils
• Aa lava is less fluid than pahoehoe and cools into sharp pointy rock. Ouch!
• Obsidian is volcanic glass that breaks easily and has been used since ancient times.
• Volcanic ash is made up of bad chemicals and other nasty things you can’t breathe in. Many Pompeiians died of suffocation from breathing this in.

Above: Pahoehoe lava

Volcano Hall Of Fame:

• Mt. Vesuvius: Wiped out the Roman cities of Pompeii and the lesser known Herculaneum.
• Ring Of Fire: Actually an area of many volcanoes in the pacific ocean.
• Mt. Erebus: A big active volcano in Antarctica.
• Mauna Kea: Hawaii’s largest volcano.

Above: Ruins of Pompeii with mount Vesuvius in the background

How Volcanoes Are Formed:

1. A crack in the crust allows magma to flow up and it slowly builds up.
2. Underwater volcanoes can get so vast this way they build into islands like Hawaii.

 

How Volcanoes Erupt:

1. Magma in a magma chamber below the surface builds up
2. It gets too much and it opens to a feeder tube
3. The magma gets to the surface where it gets a new name: lava.

 

For this project, I had to make a PLAN! here it is:

I started my project by gathering info and putting it in one place. Next, I made a poster and model of the inside of a volcano. After that, I planned out my final thing. It was a model volcano that was going to blow its top. First, I made the structure. Then, I covered it in paper mache and painting it. Now is my favourite part, my friend and I experimented with how to make the volcano erupt. We figured out that one part baking soda and two parts vinegar works beautifully. It was a blast! Here is my testing:

Now, it was finally time to blow this thing up! I used what I learned to make this erupt.

(me before my experiment)

(my experiment)

All in all, my project went super well. Next time I would just plan things out better. Bye!