 |
|
 Make
Your Own Dough
You can make your own play-dough for your kitchen volcano. If you want
a permanent volcano, you can ask your adult partner to bake it in a
250-degree oven for about an hour. Baking hardens the play-dough so
that it lasts for as long as you want it. Here’s how you do it:
You
Need: (if you need more play-dough, just double the recipe!)
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup salt
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- About 1 cup water
To Do:
- Mix the flour and salt in a big bowl.
- Add the vegetable oil and stir.
- Slowly add the water and stir until the mixture feels like clay
to you.
- Roll the clay into a ball, put it in a plastic bag, and refrigerate
it for an hour.
- Take the clay out of the refrigerator — and build your volcano!
Click on the image to enlarge
|
|
|
|
 Build
a
“Deep Sea Vent”
Deep
sea vents are cracks in the Earth’s surface. Out of these cracks
pour boiling hot chemicals that look like black smoke. You can build your
own “black smoker” by following the directions below. You can
also learn more about black smokers and vents by visiting this Web site:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/
abyss/mission/birth.html
You
Need:
- Adult partner
- String
- Food coloring
- Large glass jar
- Small glass jar that can fit easily into the larger jar
- Cold water
- Warm water
To Do:
Important: Do this activity in the kitchen!
- Tie the string tightly around the neck of the smaller jar, so that
you can lift it up safely. Put a few drops of food coloring into the
jar.
- Fill the larger jar about three-quarters full with cold water. Fill
the smaller jar with warm tap water.
- Pick up the smaller jar by the string, and lower it down into the
large jar. Let it settle gently on the bottom.
- Watch what happens! The warm water in the smaller jar rises like hot
gases from a deep-sea vent. You can see the water’s movement because
of the food coloring. Scientists can see black smokers for the same
reason: their black color contrasts with ordinary ocean water.
Click on the image to enlarge
|
|
|
