Gelatin Volcano Model

A cup of gelatin represents country rock while pudding, yogurt, or sauce injected into it simulates magma. As the “magma” intrudes and erupts, the activity models subsurface magmatism, intrusive rock formations, and surface volcanism.

1. Refrigerate gelatin cups until cool and firm.
2. Use a pushpin and small knife to create a hole in the bottom of the cup, just wide enough for the syringe tip.
3. Fill a plastic syringe with pudding, yogurt, or chocolate sauce, removing excess air.
4. Insert the syringe into the hole at the base of the cup.
5. Put on goggles and remove the gelatin cup’s cover.
6. Slowly inject the “magma” into the gelatin, observing as it intrudes and spreads inside.
7. Continue injecting until the magma breaks through the surface, simulating a volcanic eruption.
8. Remove the syringe, place the cup on a plate, and excavate with a spoon while eating, noting “sills,” “dikes,” and inclusions.

Gelatin Volcano—classroom demonstration [educational] - IRIS Earthquake Science:

STEAM Fun: Gelatin Volcano - Wood Dale Public Library District:

📄 Single-Serving Volcanism - Exploratorium: https://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/single-serving-volcanism

• Use layered gelatin to simulate rock strata.
• Inject multiple types of sauces to model successive magma intrusions.
• Chill or warm the sauce to see how viscosity affects intrusion and eruption.

• Wear goggles to protect eyes from splashes.
• Use caution with sharp tools when piercing the gelatin cup.
• Keep tools and utensils clean, since the activity ends with edible food.

• How is the gelatin like country rock and the sauce like magma? (The gelatin is pre-existing rock, and the sauce represents molten rock intruding into it.)
• What geological features do the blobs, layers, and cracks of sauce represent? (Plutons, sills, dikes, xenoliths.)
• What changes when the “magma” erupts at the surface? (It transitions from magma to lava, modeling extrusive volcanism.)
• In what ways is this model similar to real volcanism, and in what ways is it different? (Similar in showing intrusion and eruption; different in scale, time, pressure, and material behavior.)