volcanoes and lava and tourists - oh my!

So today was a big due date in the 3rd grade. Their first-ever long-term project has come due after two months of research and staggered due dates ... their projects on America's National Parks Service! Over the late winter, each child gets assigned to a particular National Park and the research begins right away ... they write letters to their particular Park Service for info, they research facts in books and online, and from there they create a display with an information poster, a diorama, and a Park Service pamphlet of their very own. It's a big event with all of the parents coming through to see the displays throughout the first a hour of the morning, followed by the entire school cycling through during the school day. The kids have to be ready to talk about their display and answer any questions about their particular Park. So what did my 3rd grade get for her Park?

Yup, that's Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park right there ... my daughter was thrilled to be assigned to this attention grabbing Park - the drama, the volatility, she wanted it all! However, when she realized in the homestretch of the project that she could not, in fact, have an explosion mechanism firing off throughout the day in her diorama, her disappointment was deep. Ever the tough cookie, my 3rd grader rolled with it and forged ahead with the cutest diorama you ever saw:

Notice the sweet old grampy with his crooked walking stick pointing at the wonder of the flowing lava ...

And the young man taking a photo (that's a flash going off at the top of the camera) while his wife reads from the fold-out pamphlet ...

And even though she wasn't able have the display actively firing off lava explosions, she was determined to have it erupting somehow ...

Yikes, I'm sure glad I'm not those poor tourists just beyond the fence!!