Managing the volcano project

This week my classes researched and made a volcano to demonstrate to the class. The project involved making a volcano resume and building the volcano. They were to present to the class about the volcano and demonstrate how the volcano works. I only let them use baking soda and vinegar because of safety reasons. They can add some soap and a few drops of food coloring to the volcano which will give a realistic look of the lava.

Careful with other solutions demonstrating the volcano

Don’t let them use Mentos and soda to demonstrate the volcano project as this will create a large mess in the classroom and will attract bugs and insects. The Mentos and soda should be done outside on another project. I don’t think using them for the volcano project is a good idea. See my other science videos on the video gallery page here.

Keep the class volcano projects moving along

To help keep thinks moving along, I employ a few strategies for the classroom.

• I keep an index card of each group with their names and class period for each volcano project.
• I use the index cards to show the order of who is going first and the next six groups.
• When the group project is ready to present, I staple the index card to their grade sheet. This helps keep track of what they did and helps me find the location of this group on the video.
• I always require 10 points in the presentation for cleanup of the volcano, ensuring that they learn to help clean up.

I made a grade sheet for each group using this rubric from Science Scope. Use it and change it for your need and let me know how it worked for you.
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