Snowflake just finished a unit on Rocks and Minerals. Our corresponding literature unit used the book Holes.
We had two projects from our rocks and minerals unit I thought I would share with you.
First, Snowflake got to make her own volcano and make it erupt.
This was a simple, fun (and messy) project.
She used a glass bottle with a narrow neck. Next, she added potting soil to build up around the bottle to make it look more like a volcano mountain (this was the messy part in case you couldn’t guess!).
The bottle was filled with 1/4 cup of baking soda and a squirt of dish detergent.
With the whole family watching, video camera rolling and camera clicking away,
Snowflake added 1/4 cup of vinegar with a little red food coloring to add color.
The volcano erupted!
Lava flowing…
and flowing.
It was a fun project that the whole family enjoyed. I think Snowflake especially like that the whole family was watching with all the cameras rolling! 😉
This project and others we did during this unit were from the book: Geology Rocks!: 50 Hands-On Activities to Explore the Earth (Kaleidoscope Kids)(Affiliate link).
To complete our unit on rocks and minerals, Snowflake completed a final project. In this project, she was to pretend she was a Paleontologist on a dig site. She was to do a presentation to send back to the University that was funding her dig. It needed to show certain things that she had learned.
Here is her presentation:
She chose to add a video to this slide that would explain some of the different types of test you can do.
I think she did a good job on her project. Of course, we talked about where she could add a bit more detail and such, but I have to remind myself….this is 4th grade, not college! (Deep breath now taken by the homeschool mother who sometimes needs a bit of perspective…)
We all enjoyed this unit. We really enjoyed our literature unit and had fun learning so much about rocks and minerals. We love all the hands on activities that are in our curriculum.
These projects are from the 8-10 Moving Beyond the Page curriculum.
That is great! You can tell how exciting that moment was. I used to love making volcanoes as a kid. That one looks so real. Great job everyone.
That is neat that you used to make volcanoes as a kid. I don’t remember getting to do things like this (but then I have an awful memory for such things).
We did have fun…it was fun watching it go.
Thanks for stopping by and for commenting!
This is awesome! I love rocks! We collect samples of different rocks and my kids look them up in our rock and mineral book. So much fun!
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So much fun, so much learning!! Thanks for sharing with the weekly kids co-op!
I love that I’m not the only homeschool mama who needs to remember that elementary school is not college!! 🙂
This is fabulous. Our students always love doing the volcano experiment. I live that ou took it a step further. Thanks so much for sharing atWimsy Wednesdays.
So glad to know I am not the only one as well! Thanks for stopping by and for your comments.
Thanks for hosting and thanks for your comments.