Community Central Exploring Maine – and Beyond!

Fifth graders at McMahon Elementary spent some time learning about space this spring!

Young scientists demonstrating lava flowOne week, we looked at lunar volcanoes and how scientists are able to study how lava flowed millions of years ago on the moon and the Earth.

First, we looked at how lava flows out of volcanoes. Each lava eruption behaved differently as the terrain changed!

Check out one of the reactions here!

Youth holding Playdoh "core samples" after a science activityAfter using Playdoh to show where the different eruptions had flowed, straws served as the vessels to take core samples. The youth saw a real-world application of this process through the work that researchers Charles Rodda and Kit Hamley shared with the Follow A Researcher™ program.

young person watching a video on a tablet screen

Youth at the Root Cellar also looked at lunar volcanoes, here a participant is learning about how the core samples were collected.

For more information about Community Central, please contact Kristy L. Ouellette, PI of the Maine 4-H Community Central Program at kristy.ouellette@maine.edu.


Community Central is a project funded by the USDA’s Children, Youth, and Families at Risk (CYFAR) Sustainable Community Projects program.