Different kinds of volcanos and sand patterns can be created with Volcano in a Bottle. How many different patterns can you make?

Achieving volcanic variations requires careful observation and a playful approach. Can you imagine how the sand is flowing in the bottle as you move the bottle? Can you feel the weight of the grains slosh within the bottle as you shake the bottle in different orientations? How can you use the heavier “sand ball” to help catch “big air” for maximum fluffiness? There is more than meets the eye. But here are two things to think about:

1. The bottle shake. How you shake the bottle affects how much air mixes with the sand. Generally, larger and longer lasting volcanoes happen with super fluffy sand. How can you “catch big air”? Does shaking violently really make fluffier sand, or is it better to shake in a more measured way?
2. How you hold the bottle as the sand settles. One can hold the bottle upright, at a tilt, or even upside down to affect how air rises through the sand. Varying the bottle position as the settling process goes on lets you see different patterns of air flow.

Challenge 1: Basic side volcano

The easiest volcano to make, and our favorite, is the basic “side volcano.” This is a volcano that looks like a cross section through a volcano, and lets you see the streams of gas and sand rising up from deep underground to make plumes of air and sand at the top surface. It is easy to make a good side volcano by holding the bottle tilted away from you after shaking the bottle to fluff up the sand. You’ll need to play with the angle of the bottle to get more vigorous eruptions! Bring the volcanoes to life!

Challenge 2: No volcano

The Volcano in a Bottle is designed to make great volcanoes. But can you fluff up the sand a lot, yet not have any visible volcanoes as the sand settles back to its original volume? Can you hold Volcano in a Bottle upside down with super fluffed up sand but not get a volcano? Hmmm….?

Challenge 3: Long lasting volcano

How long can the volcanic eruptions keep going after Volcano in a Bottle is shaken? For longer eruptions, try to get the fluffed up sand to take up as much of space inside the bottle as possible. This takes practice, and sometimes a little luck. Our favorite is to shake Volcano in a Bottle when it is upside down, with more rapid downward than upward motions.

Longer eruptions can also be achieved by changing the tilt of Volcano in a Bottle as the volcanoes are erupting. Can you figure out how to tilt the bottle to revive a dying volcano?

Challenge 4: Ring of fire

Volcanoes often form along the borders of tectonic plates. The Pacific Rim is surrounded by a chain of volcanoes called the “Ring of Fire”. The volcanoes in the “Ring of Fire” are fairly active and are also associated with frequent earthquakes.  Can you create a “ring of fire” of volcanoes all the way around the rim of Volcano in a Bottle? 

See a map of the ring of fire on the US Geological survey https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/ring-fire

Challenge 5: Sudden volcano termination

Can you stop an erupting field of volcanoes? Or is it only possible to wait until the volcanoes stop all by themselves? If you can figure out how to control the forces of nature, then you are truly a master of Volcano in a Bottle.

Challenge 6: Legendary Pure Central volcano

A Central Volcano is one that erupts in the middle of the Volcano in a Bottle without air channels visible along the sides of the bottle. Central Volcanoes may occur as a volcano pair, or triplet, or multiple. Sometimes they occur in conjunction with side volcanoes. Can you make a pure solitary Central Volcano without any side volcanoes? Some people think the pure solitary Central Volcano is impossible to achieve…what do you think? To get central volcanoes, you’ll need to fluff up the sand to the highest level. Works best with the Large sized Volcano in a Bottle.

Did you enjoy these challenges? Do you have other challenges to suggest? Leave us a comment below!