Horrible Science 'Violent Volcano'

My son's love of learning prompted me to buy this kit whilst strolling around WHSmith. I thought it would be a great way of highlighting how much fun science can be. Whilst I was weighing up the educational content, Master Craftiness just seemed eager to put on the safety glasses and take on the role of nutty professor.

Here are the box contents:

Ingredients of the experiment:

• 1 pair of safety glasses (required to elevate child's ego and enable inner persona of nutty professor)
• Vinegar (I don't know about safety glasses but a peg for my nose would have been appreciated - phewee!)
• Bicarbonate of soda
• Plastic volcano
• Illustrations of people running away from a volcano
• Instruction sheet

The instruction sheet advised that this experiment was best done outside in case the experiment got a bit messy. However, it was a task in itself to stop the sheet flying away as it was so windy, so we opted for the safe option of doing it indoors as all the bicarbonate of soda would just have flown away.

Step 1: Put base of the volcano on tray. Create a landscape out of soil, twigs and stones. I wasn't too thrilled at the prospect of Master Craftiness bringing tons of soil in the house though so we opted for some stones to prop the 'village people' up with.

Step 2: Master Craftiness carefully poured the vinegar in and the overpowering stench filled our nostrils (no wonder the people were running for cover) but we persevered in the name of 'Horrible Science'.

Step 3: An adult assistant is needed for this step. I added one teaspoon of the bicarbonate of soda and quickly screwed on the top of the volcano crater. Immediately it started fizzing and foaming, it happened so quickly I couldn't take a photo of it as I had vinegar all over my hands.

Step 4: According to the instructions, we should have been standing back from the volcano because it was going to blow. In actual fact we didn't have time to stand back, as it was so quick reacting.

Here are the photos of the almighty eruption:

Look at the destruction - the poor people who live in those villages!

And thereby we learn the destruction a simple chemical reaction can make!


So what did Master Craftiness learn?

• Master Craftiness learnt that the volcano erupting was actually a chemical reaction. This means that one substance (the vinegar) changes when the other substance (the bicarbonate of soda) is added to it.
• Vinegar is an ACID which REACTS with the bicarbonate of soda and GAS fizzes out, making it look like the volcano is erupting.

• A real volcano forms when MAGMA (hot liquid rock) collects in a chamber deep underground. As more and more magma flows in to the chamber, pressure gradually builds up until the magma is forced upwards through a narrow tube called a VENT. Then, like a shaken lemonade bottle, the ash, magma and burning gas burst through an opening in the surface of the Earth, creating a VOLCANIC ERUPTION.
• When the magma comes out of the ground it is called LAVA.
• LAVA is composed of liquid rock which flows out of the volcano.
• LAVA can travel very quickly or so slowly you can hardly see it moving.
• A lava flow burns everything in its path, until eventually it cools down again and turns in to solid rock.
• The cooled fragments are called TEPHRA which fall back to Earth, covering everything in ash.

Things I have learnt:

• To put a peg on my nose when dealing with this much vinegar.
• To have a camera on a tripod, in timer mode to capture future disasters.
• The Stromboli volcano in Italy has been erupting for the past 2,400 years.
• The largest volcano in the solar system is Olympus Mons on Mars.
• There are about 1,500 active volcanoes in the world, so as you're reading this there's probably a volcano erupting somewhere.

Our opinion: This was a great little kit to illustrate how much fun science can be and we both learnt some interesting facts about volcanoes.