The first thing you will need to do is gather all the ingredients to do the experiment. You will need the following:

Clear vinegar

Bicarbonate of soda (Sodium Bicarbonate)

Food colour ( any colour of your choose, but I prefer red)

A glass or plastic soda bottle

Some clay, modelling clay or sand can be used to build your volcano

A tray to build your volcano on or you could just use a piece of wood.

Once you have all your ingredients together you can get started with the experiment. Always remember safety first - goggles, lab coat etc. Check out this previous post it you are unsure. Think safety first when doing science experiments at home

First take your bottle and with the clay or modelling clay mold the shape of a volcano around the bottle until you are happy with it.

Pour the bicarbonate of soda in to the bottle inside your volcano.

Now pour the vinegar into a jug and add the the food colouring of your choose to the vinegar. This will give the effect of lava.

Make sure you now have your volcano on a firm base, a tray or large tupperware to avoid all the liquid going on the floor. Now pour in the vinegar until it starts fizzing out of your volcano stand back and watch your volcano erupt.

Now for the sciencey bit…

The reason it gives the effect of an erupting volcano is when you mix vinegar with bicarbonate of soda it creates a cemical reaction creating carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide gases bubble and build in the bottle, forcing the liquid ‘ mixture out the bottle and down the sides of your volcano.

Hope you have had as much fun as I did with the kids and thank you for reading.

Alex

Technorati Tags: Easy Science Experiment, kids science experiments, science experiments at home, volcano experiment

Although it’s fun and exciting for you and your children to do science experiments at home it is important to think about safety first. There are a few thinks to think about and make your children aware of before you get started.

Make sure your children are wearing suitable clothing  -nice and snug to avoid baggy sleeves catching alight or knocking things over, if possible wear an apron or lab coats if they are available, you wouldn’t want there best clothes getting ruined.

Make sure they have a pair of goggles (big glasses) available to wear when you are doing the experiments, it is important to cover the eyes so as not to get anything in them, splashes and so on.

Although children love fancy exploding experiments it is important to find experiments which are safe and sensible to do, especially when you first start out.
Always think safety first and include your children and make them aware of all the safety aspects of doing experiments before you start each and every experiment. The more they know the more of a habit it becomes each time they do experiments.

Doing experiments is fun and enjoyable with your kids - more so knowing you have covered safety first.

Technorati Tags: science experiment safety, science experiments at home