Volcanic Panic!
Students learn about the causes, composition and types of volcanoes. They begin with an overview of the Earth's interior and how volcanoes form. Once students know how volcanoes function, they learn how engineers predict eruptions. In a class demonstration, students watch and measure a mock volcanic eruption and observe the eruption phases, seeing how a volcano gets its shape and provides us with clues to predict a blast.
Kilauea in Hawaii.Copyright Federal Emergency Management Agency http://www.fema.gov/kids
While volcanoes cannot be prevented, we can do our best to predict them so that human populations near volcanoes can be safely evacuated before an eruption. To predict eruptions, engineers design and build many different devices to detect subtle changes in a volcano that occur before it erupts. Engineers use their science and math skills to build specialized instruments that can detect gases, changes in the shape of the volcano, as well as monitor earthquakes that may signal a possible eruption.
After this lesson, students should be able to:
- Describe several parts of a volcano.
- List the three main types of volcanoes.
- Name at least one famous volcano.
- Explain that engineers build devices used to predict volcanic eruptions.