#1611: Baking Soda and Vinegar explain

[Ponytail is standing behind Jill who has one hand up. They are looking at a table with a model volcano.]

Jill: My science project is a baking soda and vinegar volcano!

[A larger frame that includes Megan who stands to the right. Ponytail is a little further back and Jill has taken her hand down. The baking soda volcano erupts in a small upwards explosion.]

Ponytail: Why do people make these? It isn’t really even a science project. It doesn’t teach anything about-

Volcano: Foom!

[Smaller frame again. Ponytail has moved closer to the table, Jill moves around the table to the right, pointing at the volcano while Megan walks closer. The “lava” flows down the volcano on both sides.]

Jill: See how the baking soda and vinegar mix with mud and ice to form deadly flowing lahars?

[Zoom in on Jill’s head close to the stream of lava going down the lower part of the volcano’s right slope.]

Jill: You can see the tiny cars trying to flee.

Jill: Whoops! Too slow.

[Zoom in on Ponytail.]

Ponytail: Um. This is a bit grim.

Jill (off panel): Learning!

[Jill stand to the right of the table looking at the now still volcano. Shaky lines surround a sound effect written over the top of this slim frame:]

Rumble

[Back to showing all three as before. Jill lifts a finger in the air.]

Jill: And now we’re learning that this volcano is an offshoot of a vinegar hotspot rising from deep within the earth.

Jill: Annnd…

[Jill turns away from the table looking right as a loud noise can be heard off-panel, depicted in white text on a wavy black bubble:]

Boooom

[Megan has walked over to a window to the right. It has the blinds drawn down. She opens a hole in the blinds by pulling down in the middle. It is dark outside. The other two are outside the frame to the left.]

Jill (off panel): The baking soda supervolcano erupts, injecting clouds of salt into the stratosphere.

Megan: Why is it getting dark outside?

Jill (off panel): Learning is fun!

[We see Jill standing close to the table, of which only the right leg can be seen. She holds up a tablet with a graph showing a rising trend. The other two are both out of the frame.]

Jill: Sunlight dims. The earth cools. Summer frosts form. Crops die. We check the markets. Grain prices are rising.

Megan (off panel): I want to stop learning now.

Jill: Soon, we all will.