What important facts about volcanoes should I teach my third grade class?

rocky Tom

Dear Tom,

This is an important question. Since they are third graders stick with the basics. I taught volcanic hazards to forth graders while in Hawaii. I was surprised at their ability to learn if I presented my information in small pieces and used demonstrations to get the main points across.

Here's some important topics to present:

  1. The outermost layer of the Earth is broken into pieces called plates. Volcanoes are located where these plates move away or towards each other.
  2. Landforms: Common features are: a. shield volcanoes (stacks of thin basaltic lava flows, broad bases, very gentle slopes, the largest volcanoes on Earth), b. stratovolcanoes (layers of tephra and lava flows, slopes are steep compared to shields), c. cinder cones (conical hills of cinders), and d. lava domes (steep-sided, rounded extrusion of highly viscous lava). In order of decreasing size: shields>>stratovolcanoes>>cinder cones=lava domes.
  3. Products: Volcanoes produce three types of products: a. lava flows (pillow, pahoehoe, and aa), b. pyroclasts (bomb, blocks, lapilli,cinders, ash) and c. gas (water vapor, carbon dioxide, and sulfur dioxide).

    and, if your students live near an active volcano:

  4. Geologic hazards: a. hazard (potentially destructive process) and risk (potential loss of life and property), b. lava flows, c. tephra, d. tsunami, e. earthquake.

Last fall I taught a session on Hawaiian volcanoes at a regional NSTA meeting. I prepared a single page that touched on the topics I thought were important about Hawaiian volcanoes. It follows:

Steve Mattox, University of North Dakota

HAWAIIAN VOLCANISM FACTSHEET

by Steve Mattox

  1. Hot spots: Some ocean islands volcanoes are far from the edges of tectonic plates. These islands are associated with long chains of volcanoes which become progressively younger in one direction. Earthquakes and volcanoes are restricted to one end of the chain. Geologists proposed the existence of hot spots within the mantle. A hot spot is a place of anomalous melting in the mantle which supplies magma to volcanoes at the surface. A vertical column of rising rock and/or heat, called a mantle plume, supplies the hot spot. There are about 20 active hot spots. Hawaii and Yellowstone are the best known (and studied).
  2. Evolution: Hawaiian islands undergo a systematic pattern of submarine and subaerial growth followed by erosion and subsidence. An island's stage of development reflects its distance from the hot spot. There are eight stages: a. initial, b. shield-building, c. giant landslide, d. capping, e. erosional, f. renewed volcanism, g. atoll, h. late seamount. Not all volcanoes go through every stage.
  3. Landforms: Common features are: a. shield volcanoes (stacks of thin basaltic lava flows, broad bases, very gentle slopes, the largest volcanoes on Earth), b. stratovolcanoes (layers of tephra and lava flows, slopes are steep compared to shields), c. cinder cones (conical hills of cinders), and d. lava domes (steep-sided, rounded extrusion of highly viscous lava). In order of decreasing size: shields>>stratovolcanoes>>cinder cones=lava domes.
  4. Products: Volcanoes produce three types of products: a. lava flows (pillow, pahoehoe, and aa), b. pyroclasts (bomb, blocks, lapilli, cinders, ash) and c. gas (water vapor, carbon dioxide, and sulfur dioxide).
  5. Monitoring: Geologists monitor volcanoes using

    • ground movements(tilt, electronic distance measurement, surveying, global positioning system
    • seismicity (frequency, magnitude, location, and type of earthquakes)
    • gas geochemistry (amount, type, ratios)
  6. Resources:

  7. Geologic hazards: a. hazard (potentially destructive process) and risk (potential loss of life and property), b. lava flows, c. tephra, d. tsunami, e. earthquake. 

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