Lava in a Cup... (by Science Bob)

* A clear drinking glass
* 1/4 cup vegetable oil
* 1 teaspoon salt
* Water
* Food coloring (optional)

1. Fill the glass about 3/4 full of water .
2. Add about 5 drops of food coloring - I like red for the lava look.
3. Slowly pour the vegetable oil into the glass. See how the oil floats on top - cool huh? It gets better.
4. Now the fun part: Sprinkle the salt on top of the oil.
5. Watch blobs of lava move up and down in your glass!
6. If you liked that, add another teaspoon of salt to keep the effect going.

The project above is a DEMONSTRATION. To make it a true experiment, you can try to answer these questions:

1. How long will the effect go on if you keep adding salt?

2. Will other substances (sand, sugar. etc.) work the same as salt?

So what's going on? Of course, it's not real lava but it does look a bit like a lava lamp your parents may have had. First of all, the oil floats on top of the water because it is lighter than the water. Since the salt is heavier than oil, it sinks down into the water and takes some oil with it, but then the salt dissolves and back up goes the oil! Pretty cool huh?

Text Book work today. Questions

These are the questions that were on the board that some of you might not have gotten down before our time was up..


6. Complete an informational chart with facts you compiled during the reading.
     Composite Volcano               Shield Volcano         Cinder Cone Volcano
     *                                             *                                *
     *                                             *                                *
     *                                             *                                *


7. Chose one of the volcanoes. Pretend you are watching it erupt from a safe distance. Write an article (2 paragraphs) for a newspaper about what you had seen happening.


8. Look up images of Mt. Fuji. Create a colorful illustration of one of the images.

Science Home Project!!! YAY! Plate Tectonics

This project is centered around our unit on plate tectonics. Students will draw a project out of a bucket. The possible project themes are.... earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunami, and or mid ocean ridges. Students will also present their project in class. Students will have 2 weeks to complete the project.

* Students will make a project at home. I would encourage using house hold items and not bought kits. YOU DON'T HAVE TO SPEND MONEY TO COMPLETE THIS PROJECT :) I'm looking for creativity.

Student will also include a 1 page written report about their project including but not limited to these questions:
* What plate boundary is responsible for the creation of your project?
* Where is a real life example located on the earth of your project?
* What kind of damage can your project create in real life?
* Write a section about how you made your project that includes but not limited to the following questions....
* What did you make it out of?Who helped you?
* How long did it take to build?
* Any changes you would like to make to the final project if you could?
* Rate your project on detail work with 5 Stars being 'awesome' and no stars being poor. Explain why.

PROJECT IS DUE MARCH 1

Tsunami Narrative Story

Your Tsunami Narrative Story- “What would you do?”

25pts total

- Clear introduction paragraph (5pts)

- Body of the story (rising action, conflict) (5pts)

- A clear resolution to the story and ending to the entire story (5pts)

- Nice neat penmanship, grammar, punctuation (5pts)

- STYLE (5pts)

New Vocab

Metamorphic rock- rock altered by pressure and heat.

Igneous rock- rock formed by the cooling of molten magma.

Sedimentary rock- rock formed from consolidated clay sediments.

Rock cycle- The rock cycle is the natural process in which rocks transform from one rock type into another rock type over time, a type of natural recycling

Trench- A long, narrow ditch.

New Vocab

Epicenter- The epicenter of an earthquake is the place on the surface of the earth that is above the focus of the earthquake, not the place where the earthquake originated.

Focus Point- The point where the earthquake originates

Tsunami- A long high sea wave caused by an earthquake or other disturbance.

Tidal Wave- A tidal wave is produced by the daily tides, which are caused by the gravitational pull of the Moon and Sun.

Richter Scale- The Richter scale is a measurement of the magnitude of earthquakes.