Erupting paper mache volcano

For the base I used a box with a small edge to catch the lava when we erupt our volcano. I then sellotaped  a small box in the center to give the lava chamber height. I made the lava chamber by cutting a milkshake bottle in half.

We then glued loosely scrunched up newspaper around the frame and then secured it with masking tape.

We mixed some paper mache: 2 cups of flour mixed with 2 cups of water. We then used it to stick strips of newspaper all over the volcano. We covered it in 6 layers. We applied the first three layers on day 1 and left it to dry a little next to a hot radiator for a hour between applying each layer. I then left it to dry properly over night. In the morning it was completely dry and we did the same with the last 3 layers.

After painting it and allowing it to dry we took it outside to make it erupt. We filled 1/4 of the center with  baking powder and then added  4oz of vinegar, and a drop of red food dye.

When the lava dried it gave the volcano a awesome effect.

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Oxygen experiment

 Oxygen comes from plants. Like us plants need food to give them energy. The  plants use sunlight, water. and air to make a sugar. They use this sugar to give them energy to help them grow. This is called photosynthesis.  Once they have finished making their food there is some oxygen left over. They release this oxygen so we can breathe it in. This little activity will let you see the oxygen that is released from the leaf.


We cut a healthy leaf from a plant and placed it in a glass of water and placed it in a sunny spot. 

After a hour we could see lots of little oxygen bubbles all over the leaf and the glass

We observed our leaf every few hours by the end of the day there was a lot of bubbles around the edge of the glass. We gave it a little shake and watched them float around.

Check out my blog on Joseph Priestley to find out more activities on oxygen and air.

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Rainbow Celery

This experiment is pretty awesome. Rainbow celery  is a fun visual experiment to show children how plants absorb water through their roots through a process called Osmosis.

Select the shorter sticks of celery that has lots of leaves for the best results. Chop around a cm off the bottom (the bit that is white) and place them in a glass with water and food dye.  I have found that blue and red seem to work the best. Over the next 24 hours we observed the colour of the leaves.

1hr later

One hour later and we can already see a tinge of blue on the tips of the leaves.

2hrs later

This day in history - Priestley discovers Oxygen

Joseph Priestley

Today is the First of August 2012. On this day 238 years ago in 1774 Joseph Priestley discovered oxygen .

Our Calendar

James Priestley was a English Scientist.

This is England!

He was a very curious man. He did lots of experiments. During his experiments he discovered Oxygen.

The symbol for Oxygen 

O is for Oxygen. Practise the Jolly Phonics. Pretend to turn a light switch on and off and say O, O,  O,O

Jolly Phonic workbook page. 

What Is Oxygen?

We can't see oxygen. It is invisible. We can't see it and we can't smell it. Oxygen is very important. Without it nothing could exist. We would not be here. Oxygen is in the air all around us and in the water we drink.  All plants and animals need to breathe. We breathe in air from our nose and our mouths.

I got my children to place their hands on their tummies and take deep breathes so they could feel the movement of their diaphragms as they breathe.

We can feel our tummies move when we breathe in and out.

 It makes its way into our lungs. The oxygen  then hitches a ride of our red blood cells and travels all around our body.

What Is Air?

Air is a mixture of Oxygen and other invisible gases. It is all around us but we can't see it. So if we can't see it how do we know it is there?

I used a empty pop bottle to demonstrate the existence of air. What is in the bottle?

Nothing? Right?

I squeezed the bottle onto their faces so they could feel the air blow out.

Macey squeezing the bottle so Drew can feel the air.