Toilet Paper
Volcano Lab
&
Vocabulary Posters
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© 2013 Erin Lane. All rights reserved.
Cinder Cone Volcano:
A cinder cone
volcano is a steep, conical hill of volcanic fragments
that accumulate around the vent of a volcano. The
rock pieces that erupt, often called cinders or
scoria, are glassy and contain many gas bubbles
"frozen" into place as magma exploded into the air
and then cooled quickly.
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© 2013 Erin Lane. All rights reserved.
Stratovolcano:
Also known as a composite
volcano. This is a tall, steep, conical volcano that is
built up by many layers of strata (hardened lava,
tephra, pumice and volcanic ash).
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Shield Volcano:
A large, broad, lower to the
ground volcano that is shaped like a warrior’s shield.
This volcano is built up of very fluid lava flow that
has hardened. The Hawaii Islands are shield
volcanoes.
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Name:_____________________
Toilet Paper Volcanoes
Directions: With your group, choose a type of volcano to create (shield volcano,
stratovolcano, or cinder cone volcano). Then, use your toilet paper roll to build
the volcano. Complete this lab sheet.
1. Build your volcano out of the toilet paper roll. Be sure to add some color to
your volcano using markers.
2. Quantitative Observations:
Measure your volcano from the base to the top of the crater:
_______ inches tall
Measure the diameter of your volcano
_______ inches wide
3. Qualitative Observations:
Texture: __________________________________________________
Color(s):___________________________________________________
4. Draw a sketch of your volcano:
5. After the eruption, measure the lava flow from the crater of the volcano to the
stopping point.
Lava flow: _______ inches
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Erin Lane. All rights reserved.