Children are naturally curious about the world around them. At Kiddie Academy, our educators tap into that sense of wonder and discovery with STEM Challenges (STEM is an integrated approach to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). Kiddie Academy’s STEM activities are designed to foster critical thinking and inquiry skills through hands-on, play-based, cooperative experiences for our school-age campers. This approach helps children think creatively, solve problems and discover new concepts on their own.
Dinosaur Train, a popular PBS KIDS series we at Kiddie Academy sponsor, is great for kids who love Earth science and focuses on teaching important concepts of attention and listening, ecology and environment, geology, and much more.
As they explore a variety of animals and their environment, children develop the inquiry skills and knowledge needed to help them think, talk and act like paleontologists.
Spark your child’s interest for life science and natural history by reading Dinosaur Train’s Let Go to Volcano Valley and make a lunar volcano right at home with this fun STEM experiment.
Make a Lunar Volcano ExperimentÂ
Here’s what you’ll need.
White distilled vinegar
Baking Soda
Red Food Coloring
Empty Water Bottle
Scissors
Step 1: Take an empty water bottle and cut the top off with scissors. Next, put a tablespoon of baking soda in the bottle.
Step 2: In a separate bowl, pour ¼ cup of vinegar and mix it with a few drops of red food coloring.
Step 3: Slowly pour the vinegar into the bottle and wait for it to react with the baking soda-causing an explosion! Note: You may repeat these steps, adding more baking soda and vinegar to create a larger eruption.
Guiding Questions
You can frame your activity with these questions.
- What do you think will happen when the vinegar is added to the baking soda?
- What ingredient should be put in first-the vinegar or the baking soda?
- Do you think our volcano would erupt without vinegar?
- When the dinosaurs were still around, do you think there were volcano’s?
Reflections
Once your volcano experiment is complete, ask your child to consider the following concepts for additional learning.
- When a volcano erupts, hot lava comes out, spreading through the area. Do you believe this is what caused the extinction of the dinosaurs?
Thank you for reading along, as we work together in raising the next generation of amazing kids!
