The Kīlauea Volcano: Be a Volcanologist

Teacher Materials

• About Volcanoes visual | Download visuals
  • Volcano photographs

Student Materials

• Volcano Card Sort Data handout (online | print) (1 per team of 4)
• Volcanology handout (1 per student)

Lesson Preparation

• Decide whether to use hard copies of the handouts or have students access the online version.
  • If students will use hard copies, prior to class, ask a student to cut apart the volcano profile cards in each Volcano Card Sort Data handout, so the teams can sort them. If desired, the cards can be laminated for re-use. Keep the graphic organizer from each handout to provide to the team.
• Print a copy of the Volcanology handout for each student. Students will use the pages in this handout throughout the unit. If desired, the pages can be laminated for re-use.
• Designate 4 stations around the classroom for students to read about their volcano topic:
  1. Station 1: composite volcanoes (page 5)
  2. Station 2: shield volcanoes (page 6)
  3. Station 3: cinder cone volcanoes (page 7)
  4. Station 4: active, dormant, and extinct volcanoes (page 8)

Try Sorting Volcanoes

1. Provide each student with a Volcanology handout, and explain that it contains information that they can reference throughout the unit as they work as volcanologists. Point out the sections that they will need today on pages 1–8.
2. Have students meet with teams of four. Provide each team with a Volcano Card Sort Data handout (either the Volcano Card Sort Online Data handout or the printed Volcano Card Sort Data handout with the cards cut out).
3. Point out that the Volcano Card Sort Data handout contains information about 11 different volcanoes. Explain that students will work with their team to take a few moments to sort the volcanoes into groups based on the photos and information provided. Students can use any criteria of their choosing to sort the volcanoes.
   • Print version: Students should sort the cards into piles. They can create labels for their piles using pieces of scrap paper.
   • Online version: Students should access the Sort tab of Lesson 0. They can drag and drop the volcanoes to sort them into groups and add labels for their categories using text boxes.
   • As students sort the volcanoes, they should refer to the Volcanology handout for help understanding unfamiliar terms.
4. Allow a few teams to share the criteria they sorted their volcanoes by. For example, they might sort them based on shape, size, appearance, date of last eruption, or any other characteristic that they notice.

Gather Information

1. Explain that as volcanologists, students will learn a few categories commonly used to classify volcanoes. Each student in a team will be assigned a different topic. They will read an information sheet about their topic and be responsible for helping their team sort the volcanoes based on that information.
2. Review the four topics in the Volcanology handout (pages 5–8) with the class:
   • What is a composite volcano?
   • What is a shield volcano?
   • What is a cinder cone volcano?
   • How can you tell if a volcano is active, dormant, or extinct?
3. Have teams determine which student will read each of the four topics. Instruct students to find their assigned topic in the Volcanology handout (pages 5–8).
4. Have each team member go to their designated reading station and find a partner who has the same topic (see Lesson Preparation). Allow students time to read their assigned info sheet with their partner.

Classify Volcanoes

1. Signal for students to meet back with their team. Tell students that they need to work together with their team to classify each volcano as a composite volcano, shield volcano, or cinder cone volcano and as active, dormant, or extinct.
   • As the team looks at each volcano together, each student should consider the information that they read in their info sheet and share any key ideas with their team that will help the team classify the volcano.
   • Students can also ask other team members questions about their topics.
   • Print version: Students should record the name of each volcano in the appropriate space in the graphic organizer.
   • Online version: Students should select the appropriate categories from the two drop-down menus next to each volcano profile in the Classify tab. You may also choose to provide the printed graphic organizer for students working online.
   • Emphasize that students should be prepared to justify their decisions about volcano classifications to the class during discussion.
   • Students should classify as many of the volcanoes as they can within the time limits of the activity.

Discuss

1. After students have classified the volcanoes, bring the class together for discussion.
2. Draw a copy of the graphic organizer on the board. Ask for student input about how they classified the volcanoes. Ensure that students provide reasoning for each classification. A completed graphic organizer and example student responses are shown below. Students might say:
• We classified Stromboli as an active composite volcano because it has a tall mountainous shape with a summit crater and it has been explosively erupting recently.
• We classified Ngauruhoe as an active composite volcano because is really tall and mountainous like most composite volcanoes, and it has erupted recently. Some of the eruptions were explosive.
• We classified Gunung Agung as an active composite volcano because it has the size, shape and appearance of a composite volcano, and it has erupted explosively recently.
• We classified Erta Ale as an active volcano because it has erupted recently, and it has continuous lava lakes. It is a shield volcano because it has a broad shape and because it has eruptions from fissures on its flanks, which are common in shield volcanoes.
• We classified La Cumbre as an active shield volcano because effusive eruptions occur from fissures on the flanks, and they have been happening since 2009. It also has a broad shape and isn’t steep like a composite volcano.
• We classified Cerro Negro as an active cinder cone volcano because it is a young volcano so it has erupted recently, and it erupts a lot of ash and volcanic debris.
• We classified Mount Edgecumbe as a dormant composite volcano because it hasn’t erupted in thousands of years, but some of the eruptions were less than 10,000 years ago.
• We classified Mauna Kea as a dormant shield volcano because it has effusive eruptions, was built up by lava flows, and may erupt again.
• We classified Lava Butte as dormant because it hasn’t erupted in a long time, but it was still less than 10,000 years ago. It is a cinder cone because the cone shape was formed by hot ash and cinders, and it formed on a larger volcano.
• We classified Mount Shari as an extinct composite volcano because it hasn’t erupted in hundreds of thousands of years, and it’s made of layers of hardened lava and ash, which is how composite volcanoes are formed.
• We classified Kīlauea as an active shield volcano because it has been erupting effusively and because it has rift zones, which shield volcanoes often have.

	Composite	Shield	Cinder Cone
Active	Stromboli Ngauruhoe Gunung Agung	Erta Ale La Cumbre Kīlauea	Cerro Negro
Dormant	Mount Edgecumbe	Mauna Kea	Lava Butte
Extinct	Mount Shari

3. Ask students to share any other interesting observations or questions that the activity brought up. For example, students might notice:
   • Some of the active volcanoes had ash or gas clouds in the pictures, but not all of them. You can’t always tell by looking at the volcano whether it is active or not.
   • I noticed that a volcano can have snow around the top.
   • Some of the volcanoes look different than I expected. I didn’t know that they could be flat-looking like Erta Ale or Kīlauea.

Summarize

1. Summarize that today students discovered patterns in the features and eruption histories of different volcanoes. They used these patterns to sort and classify the volcanoes. Classifications such as these can provide useful information to scientists and make it easy to communicate. For example, the classification “active shield volcano” can tell a scientist a lot about a volcano.
2. Remind students that they will continue to apply their understandings about volcanoes in the lessons that follow, when they will analyze data in order to make predictions about volcanoes and keep the public safe.

Reflect

1. Ask students to write down the following:
   • 1 way that volcanoes interact with Earth’s water or air
   • 1 way that volcanoes can changes landscapes
   • 1 thing they still want to know about volcanoes
2. You may ask students to record their reflections on a separate piece of paper to turn in or in another location, such as a science journal, according to your class routines.