Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Lava: It's not just for video games

Here's a little experiment for the scientifically minded folks in the audience (read: grandparents and cousins). Ratchet had a much anticipated school project due to erupt this week, so of course we took some snaps and did a little trial run before hand to get a feel for the explosive power we were working with.

Here is the volcano in it's dormant state. The natives are busily going about their lives completely unaware of what's brewing at the base of this beast.


Here's Ratchet proudly standing behind his volatile creation.
And here's our practice run the evening before the natural disaster was to take place.

Speaking of natural disasters, you'll catch a glimpse of our torn up kitchen in the middle of its makeover. It's not an attractive sight right now but I am using my swanky new stove and microwave-which helps keep me chipper sans countertops. OH, and please turn the sound down if my constant noise gets bothersome during the pre-eruption. I am annoying! Here's what happened to his actual volcano at school on Thursday. Yay for extra credit!

(p.s. Any young kids (or middle aged men) who want to make your own version: We forgot to mention that we also added a couple squirts of dish soap to create a foamy effect ;)

9 comments:

Katie said...

That is SOOO awesome! I so want to try this at home just to watch it ooze. And to make eeewwing sounds like you Shan. What a great project for school.

Shan said...

Hahaha Katie. Sometimes it takes video to know what a weirdy you are. You'd think having studied broadcasting in school I'd know when to hesh it! My boy was proud of his volcano though and that's the bigger picture. ;)

Wendy said...

fabulous, Shan!!! We've done this before (two years in a row now, a plus of homeschooling!) but never added dish soap. Great tip.
And, man, that volcano is BIG!! Give Ratchet a pat on the back for that amazing creation!

dive said...

Hahahahaha!
Yay, Shan! That is brilliant!
What a great porject that is, and of course your commentary is - as always - totally awesome!

AfricaBleu said...

Niice. Why don't my kids ever want to do lava volcanos? I LOVE the poor people at the bottom of the volcano about to meet their untimely end!

Jamey Clayberg said...

That was some rad magma! And you got a sweet shot of me in my knee pads and gut! Weee

Bekah said...

I love it! Not enough to make the volcano city but the bottle in the sink...my boys would love it! I'm going to show my boys the video this afternoon! :-)

Scout said...

Very cool! My daughter did something with her class at Berkeley just a couple of months ago.

My kids used to play with vinegar and baking soda when they were little, and they put plastic pony beads in a container with the vinegar. That way, beads shoot up into the sky with the eruption.

Fifi said...

ah man I wasn't able to watch the video.... but that is one impressive valcano!!!