Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Volcanoes

volcanic eruption

The timing, while unfortunate, seems to have synchronized somehow: We recently read The Magic Treehouse #13 Vacation Under The Volcano. Ana has been learning about volcanoes in school this month. And, a real live eruption in Iceland to impress the reality of it.

Why did the dust go all the way to France? Is France closer to Iceland than here? Will we get any dust from Iceland volcano? Did children die in Iceland because of the volcano? Will babies in France choke because of the dust? How do we know volcano won't happen near our house?...

The house has been ringing with questions. We've seen some videos online of erupting volcanoes, especially the Iceland one with all the ash, and the closer-to-home old Mount Saint Helens. After studying some pictures of erupting volcanoes, she decided to paint one herself. (The glitter in the painting made me smile, despite the gravity).

On our drive around town, we can clearly see Mount Hood ("pointy top") and Mount Saint Helens ("flat top") and we talk about these imposing structures. She seems fascinated with Mount Saint Helens, thanks to the little fridge magnet souvenir we have that shows the before/after picture of the mountain - the top that was blown off during a volcanic eruption not too long ago. Looks like an excursion to Mount Saint Helens is imperative.

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3 Comments:

At 12:40 PM, Blogger Anu Karthik said...

so you live in Portland?

 
At 5:25 AM, Blogger Kristine said...

I was half expecting you to have made the old bicarb and vinegar volcano. It's a bit of a gimmick really as it doesn't really explain why volcanoes erupt. I must admit I'd probably still do it - just for fun. Actually I have made a cool volcano with kids (just for fun) by sculpting a volcano shape out of ice-cream. You then hollow a cup shape out of the top and pour in red creaming soda (or lemonade and red colouring).

 
At 7:39 AM, Blogger Sheela said...

Anu:: Yes :)

Kristine:: You know, I was all eager and Ana's teacher beat me to it - they did the baking soda+vinegar in school a week ago and she was talking about it all excited, so, I didn't do it at home. They've done a bunch of volcano related activities in her class including some sculpting, so, I am just showing her footage and other resources online which they haven't done much in her class... and just talking more about it - about Earth's plates and such Earthquakes...

 

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