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Earth’s Change: Rapid Processes (Volcanoes and Earthquakes)

Lesson Plan

Earth’s Change: Rapid Processes (Volcanoes and Earthquakes)

Objectives

In this lesson, students will learn about how volcanoes and earthquakes have played a part in creating our current geological features. Students will:

  • identify the types of volcanoes.

  • understand the geologic hazards of populations on fault lines and volcanic areas.

  • plot earthquakes, volcanoes, and fault lines on a U.S. map.

Essential Questions

Vocabulary

  • Rapid Process: Changing of the Earth’s surface in a quick period of time.
  • Volcano: A vent in the Earth's crust through which molten rock, ash, gases, and the like are expelled.

  • Shield Volcano: Has low levels of dissolved gas and silica in its magma. Its eruptions are effusive, and the very fluid lava moves quickly away from the vent, forming a gently sloping volcano. Mauna Loa in Hawaii is an example.

  • Cinder Cone Volcano: Has low silica levels and high levels of dissolved gas, resulting in fluid lava that erupts explosively as a result of the immense pressure built in the magma chamber. A cinder cone volcano erupts by shooting fountains of fiery lava high in the air, which cools and forms a steep-sided conical structure. Lava Butte in Oregon is an example.

  • Lava Dome Volcano: Has high silica levels and low dissolved gases in its magma. This results in effusive, viscous lava that forms a rounded, steep-sided mound. Lava domes are often created after an explosive eruption, which released much of the dissolved gas in the magma. The lava slowly continues to flow out of the volcano, forming a rounded, steep-sided mound. Since the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, a lava dome has been forming inside the crater of the volcano.

  • Composite Volcano: Has high levels of dissolved gas and silica and erupts explosively. Composite volcanoes often resemble steep-sided mountains before erupting. During violent eruptions, it can seem as if the whole top of the mountain has been blown off. Eruptions often include pyroclastic material (ash and lava fragments), leaving the volcano to collapse inward and form a crater. Mount St. Helens and Mount Rainier in Washington are examples.

  • Earthquake: A tremor of the earth’s surface usually triggered by the release of underground stress along fault lines.

Duration

60 minutes/2-3 class periods

Prerequisite Skills

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Materials

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Formative Assessment

  • View

    • Students will be assessed on fault line locations and volcano locations and how these locations affect populations. They will be assessed on this through their maps and large-group discussions.

    • Students will be assessed on whether they can identify high-risk areas for earthquakes and volcanoes by answering Lesson 2 Exit Ticket questions.

    • Students will be assessed on their map knowledge, on locations of fault lines and volcanoes, as well as on the presentation of their map to the class.

Suggested Instructional Supports

  • View
    Active Engagement, Modeling, Explicit Instruction
    W:

    Students will learn about Earth’s natural processes (volcanoes and earthquakes). They will learn the location of these processes and how they affect populations in the United States and the world around us. They will become familiar with the different types of volcanoes and where the fault lines that cause earthquakes are located.
    H:

    Students will give information they know about volcanoes and earthquakes and where they might erupt, including if they have witnessed any of these experiences and what it was like. These strategies will be used to reach all students of all levels in the classroom.
    E:

    Students will create a U.S. map showing known volcanoes and fault lines. Then they will look at the populations and cities near these fault lines and volcanoes and make predictions about the hazards and size of the populations near these areas.
    R:

    Students will review and revisit by having a large group discussion and making predictions based upon the data they were able to use on their maps. Students will also get exit tickets to see what they learned about.
    E:

    Students will complete Lesson 2 Exit Ticket questions at the end of the lesson. Questions will assess whether students can identify high risk locations for earthquakes and volcanoes and dangers associated with these locations.

    T:

    This lesson is designed to give students hands-on experience of where processes like volcanoes and earthquakes occur. Through the map project and whole group discussion this gives students with different learning abilities a chance to be reached by using differentiated instruction.
    O:

    You will begin by pre-assessing.

Instructional Procedures

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    Ask students, “Do you know where in the United States a volcanic eruption might occur? What about an earthquake? Have any of you ever seen a volcanic eruption or felt an earthquake?

    Give each student a blank United States outline map (S-8-6-2_ Blank Map of the United States.doc). Provide geological survey maps (S-8-6-2_ U.S. Geological Survey Maps.doc) that show the Earth’s major plates and volcanoes. Ask students to determine which areas of the United States are probably most susceptible to volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, based on what they have learned.

    Have students use dark colored pencils to draw the plate boundaries and light colored pencils to shade in the predicted areas of high risk for earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

    Ask students to refer to a United States political map in the classroom, in an atlas, or on the Web and list the states that lie on plate boundaries. “What are particular geologic hazards that residents of these states have to be concerned with as a result of where they live?”

    Using a population map of the United States, ask students, “Is there is a relationship between population density and areas of increased risk for volcanoes and earthquakes? Is it worth the risk to live in these areas, considering how many times a volcano or earthquake happens in the United States?”

    Hand out the Lesson 2 Exit Ticket (S-8-6-2_Lesson 2 Exit Ticket.doc) and allow time for students to answer the questions. For a class discussion, have students answer these two questions to wrap up the lesson:

    • Have people avoided populating areas that are at risk for earthquakes or volcanic eruptions?

    • Why do you think this is the case? Why do you think anyone would want to live in a region that is at risk for earthquakes and volcanic eruptions?

    Extension:
    • For students who need opportunities for additional learning:
    • Create a slide show of different pictures of destruction by earthquakes and volcanoes. Show students the slide show and ask them what they see in the pictures; have them describe the characteristics of damage by both earthquakes and volcanoes.
    • Have students make their own population maps with fault lines and describe where major cities in the United States are located compared to volcanoes and fault lines.

    • For students who may be going beyond the standards: Have students list major cities in the world and where they’re located compared to fault lines and volcanoes. Have students decide whether locations near fault lines and earthquake activity are related. Students can develop a graph showing ten major cities located around the world, indicating each city’s distance from a fault line and the number of earthquakes that have occurred in the previous ten years.

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DRAFT 11/19/2010
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