• Volcano projects are popular at any age.Volcano walk image by Emma Delmonte from Fotolia.com
  
  School volcano projects are quite standard during the K-12 years. Students often study the different properties of these explosive features from elementary school days all the way up to high school earth science courses. In order to pique your students' interests, try incorporating detailed projects for them as a way for the students to take ownership over their own learning.
  
  

Detailing the Volcano

• For more advanced students, ask them to pick a famous volcano explosion, such as Mount St. Helen's or Pompeii. Your students will then study the volcano's activity in depth by researching past explosions and explosions since. Then, the students will discuss the properties of the volcano, by making detailed sketches of the volcano and what lies beneath them. Your students will discuss, in a paper or in an oral presentation, the effects of the volcano's explosion. For example, students should address whether the eruption killed people, or if the volcano released toxins into the air. Students can include whether people have suffered health problems since, or what would happen if the volcano erupted again. Another aspect to address is what people in the area can do to prepare for another eruption.
  
  

Clay Models

• Volcano World, from the University of Oregon, suggests that students who study volcanoes use clay as a way to shape their volcano. As a class activity or as homework, assign each student a different volcano type (composite, cinder cone, or shield). Students will then have to create a volcano out of clay, using different shapes and colors to represent different parts of the volcano such as lava, mantle and crust. Your students should be instructed to write down a "key" so you'll know exactly what each part represents.
  
  

Classic Exploding Volcano

• The erupting volcano is an old elementary school classic and kids love it. The kids will use a cylinder or bottle (soda bottles work just fine) as the base, which is as tall as the volcano will be. Students can then use papier mache to mold a volcano around the bottle, or more simply: clay or even cardboard. You can even bury the bottle in sand and then add the solution. Pour 1 cup of warm water into the bottle, 1 tbsp. of dishwashing liquid, 1/4 cup of baking soda and some red food coloring. When you're ready to make it explode, pour vinegar into the mixture and watch the volcano erupt. Ask the students to then talk about why volcanoes naturally erupt in a paper or orally.