Drew’s volcano

Drew was assigned the topic of “Volcanoes” in his geography class, which, when you think about it, is a pretty exciting topic. So he conspired with Barbara-Lee to make a volcano and set it off as part of the presentation. It’s semi-difficult to dig information out of Drew about “how did your day go”, so when he wanted us to come, well, that’s a no-brainer.

He had a poster board with information, compiled by him (I dunno, maybe Mom helped with some internet searches) and written in his own words and then he made a volcano from home-made play-dough. Yup, the classic, mix baking soda and vinegar. This old standby goes back who knows how many hundreds of years, and I daren’t search for the topic on YouTube. So as an adult, it’s easy to be inured to the coolness of the thing (except when it comes in handy to unclog sinks–no video of that here, though). But for kids who haven’t seen it before, it’s really cool. And it ought to still be so for the rest of us. Especially when the volcano comes pre-loaded with red food coloring. So Drew did his presentation, which I might say, is impressive that they have to do a presentation of that sort in the third grade. It’s a great skill for the future. Maybe even more important than knowing about volcanoes. And, he did it in Spanish. That’s pretty cool too. And he learned the value of a “Dress Rehearsal” when the expected reaction didn’t occur, but luckily was bailed out by a handy classroom supply cabinet. and it surprised the kids. It was fun to be there and see Drew in his school habitat. When you drop your kids at school for the first time (in Drew’s case, age 2), you suddenly realize that there’s going to be a significant chunk of their life that you don’t see. So you take them back out and home school them. (ba-da-boom) So you appreciate, or at least should appreciate, getting a firsthand look at that world.

So here’s Drew’s volcano presentation. If you get tired of listening to all the Spanish you can forward to about the 3-minute mark for the preparing of the show, then the 6-minute mark for the recovery from the eruptive failure (although it’s kind of fun to watch Drew suddenly realize, uh-oh, nothing’s happening–that’s why a dry run, or in this case, a wet-run, is important). And yes, this post is shamelessly family-driven. Thank you for your support.

2 Responses to “Drew’s volcano”

  1. 1
    Jana

    Great job, Drew! And great recovery, too!!

  2. 2
    poppop and grammy

    Neat Volcano Drew !, and your fellow class mates seemed to have a new appreciation of Volcanoes ,they had a reply for each of the questions you asked , Great Job,,!
    two last questions , did your volcano get hot enough to soften the play dough so that Gavin and Fiona could play with it again ? just Kidding ! I think I know that reply ,,,and when You your Daddy and Victor climb up to the edge of El Popo, who gets close enough to the edge, to dump in the ingredients, that makes it smoke ?
    can’t wait to see your Volcano when we get there !
    Luv PopPop & Grammy


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