GOBLES, Mich. — Have you ever wanted to make your own lava lamp? Look no further than the salt volcano science experiment! In this week's weather kids experiment, Haleigh Vaughn demonstrates how different materials have different masses with Mrs. Tiller's 1st-grade classroom at Gobles Elementary. This salt volcano experiment was created by What Do We Do All Day.
You can find all of the materials you need at your local grocery store, or you may already have all of the materials needed at home! It's a simple experiment that is fun for all ages.
Here's what you need:
1) A large plastic or glass jar
2) One cup of water at room temperature
3) 1/4 cup vegetable oil
4) Salt (rock salt works best)
5) Food coloring
Here are the steps:
1) Pour water into the plastic or glass jar.
2) Add food coloring to the water and mix it up.
3) Pour in the vegetable oil. Do not mix!
4) Sprinkle the salt into the jar.
5) Observe what happens!
Right before your eyes, a salt volcano is formed, resembling a lava lamp. This experiment is fun for little ones ... and for students of all ages!
Are you curious how this happens? Here's the explanation from What We Do All Day:
"Water and oil are immiscible liquids. That means they don't mix. When you sprinkle the salt into the water-oil mixture the salt sinks to the bottom. As it sinks, the oil clings to it. When the salt reaches the bottom, it will begin to dissolve and as it does so, the oil that was on the salt rises to the top.
This experiment teaches kids about density. Oil is less dense than water, which is why it floats on the surface, and why the escaped oil from the salt wants desperately to reach the top again. Salt is denser than water, which is why is must sink to the bottom."
You can find dozens of Weather Kids science experiments from the FOX 17 Weather Team via our website!