VOLCANOES IN THE CLASSROOM: UPGRADING THE SCIENCE FAIR CLASSIC FOR ALL GRADE LEVELS

Admit it: at some point in your academic past, perhaps more recently than your students would guess, you have been amazed by that wondrous combination of baking soda and vinegar. Maybe you’ve even surrounded that reaction with modeling clay, added some red food dye and called it a volcano. Maybe you’re the daredevil who went instead for Diet Coke and Mentos.

What place do these classic science fair volcanoes have in K-12 or even college classrooms? How can we utilize these and other simple, cheap models to help students build deeper understandings of volcanic processes? Research has shown that novice and expert scientists alike rely on analogies to explain the world around us. In addition, incorporating simple models into the classroom can illustrate geologic concepts in a non-jargon laden way that makes the science more accessible to a wider population.

In this presentation, we will discuss the incorporation of several simple but effective food-based demonstrations to help teachers relate abstract volcanic concepts like silica content and lava viscosity to students of all ages and abilities. Examples of appropriate methods to initiate class discussions and build on these analogies will be included with connections to the new national standards.

Materials will be made available to interested teachers after the presentation.