Whoosh! Pippa Makes a Volcano
Pippa builds a volcano for the science fair, and the experiment goes bubbly wrong!
The school science fair was tomorrow, and Pippa had a plan: a volcano that really erupted. With Percy the puppy, Pippa made a mountain from clay and painted it brown.
Inside the crater went baking soda, a squirt of soap and some orange paint. Then Pippa poured in a little vinegar. FIZZ! Bubbles climbed out of the volcano, lava-red and frothy.
‘More!’ cried Percy. Pippa poured more vinegar. And more. FIZZ-FIZZ-WHOOSH! A huge wave of orange foam spilled over the table and onto the floor. It reached Percy’s shoes!
They looked at each other, and burst out laughing. ‘Too much vinegar!’ said Pippa. They mopped up, and Pippa wrote in a notebook: ‘Use only a little. Measure carefully.’
At the fair, Pippa did the experiment again, perfectly. The foam rose slowly and spilled gently. Olive the owl clapped. ‘Excellent,’ said Olive. ‘And I love your notes on what went wrong.’
The little lesson
Mistakes are part of discovering how things work.
Let’s talk about it
- What makes a volcano fizz?
- What would you do differently?
Finish stories to collect Pippa as a sticker in your Sticker Book.
More Little Scientists stories
Layla’s Fizzing Volcano
Layla builds a volcano for the science fair, and the experiment goes bubbly wrong!
The Volcano Experiment with Rocco
Rocco builds a volcano for the science fair, and the experiment goes bubbly wrong!
Felix, Bug Scientist
Felix discovers a strange beetle and follows the clues to find out what it is.
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