our lives in small town, East Africa

Saturday, March 15, 2008

volcano

One of Juma's science books instructed us how to build a vinegar and baking soda volcano. We poured into a soda bottle some apple cider vinegar, food coloring and dish soap to make it more impressive. Then we built up newspaper and tin foil to make it look like a volcano. Finally, we took it outside and plopped some baking soda into it.





And waited.

And waited.

Huh?

I poured in some more vinegar and baking soda to boost the explosion.

And we waited.

What the?

I picked up the vinegar bottle again to pour some more in, looking at the label as I did so.

Oops--it was not apple cider vinegar like I thought. It was just apple cider.

We went back inside to find something acidic to replace the vinegar. There was some lime juice, so Juma poured that in, and I added more baking soda again.




Finally, the bubbles formed enough to come out the top of the soda bottle.





Juma then enjoyed spreading the "lava" all around the dirt and rocks, pretending to destroy buildings. Little boys and lava, I tell ya.

7 comments:

Monica Rich said...

That's so funny. Totally a mistake I would make. Like the time I made banana bread using what I thought to be flour, but which in reality was confectioner's sugar. Talk about a boiling, nasty mess...

Chas said...

How fun.. Can you send us the directions for that. Eli would LOVE that!

Anonymous said...

you guys should try the mentos and diet soda. It get a "real" reaction.

Sarah said...

Monica- Oy, what a mess! How funny.

Chas- Sure, I'll type up the directions and send them to you. Eli should have fun building and seeing it bubble over, too.

Ash/Rand- We have yet to try that. I'm going to go get some supplies today!

Matt&Andria said...

How fun!

Ace said...

Ok. So maybe I'm retarded. But I only now discovered your blog. :) I'm addicted to blogging. And I love the pictures of the volcano. What a good mom you are to let him make it. :)

Sarah said...

andria- Nice to see you stop by! See you IRL soon...

ace- Ha! Took me a minute to figure out who you were. Lol. Welcome, welcome! I think I saw your blog through Malia's.