Topic: What is a volcano and how is it built? Do we live in a volcanic zone?

Author: Magdalena Jankun

Target group

Students of the 6th grade and 8th of an elementary school or students of the 1st grade of a post‑elementary school basic range

Core curriculum

6th grade of an eight‑year elementary school

VII.4. On the example of Iceland, the student determines the relationship between the location on the boundary of lithospheric plates and the occurrence of volcanoes and earthquakes;

8th grade of elementary school

XIV.2. The student identifies the relationships between the course of the boundaries of the lithospheric plates and the occurrence of rift faults, volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis, and formulates statements about the observed regularities in their distribution on their basis;

XIV.3. Discusses the ways to prevent tragic consequences of earthquakes and tsunamis.

1st grade of a post‑elementary school

V. Litosphere: relationship between the interior structure of the Earth and the tectonics of lithosphere plates, internal and external processes shaping the Earth's surface and their effects, rocks.

Student:

1) explains the connection between the Earth's interior structure and lithospheric plate motion and its influence on the genesis of endogenous processes;

2) explains the course of the main internal processes leading to the diversification of the Earth's surface (epicogenic movements, tectonic movements, volcanism, plutonism, earthquakes)

The general aim of education

You will learn what a volcano is and whether we may be afraid of volcanic phenomena in Poland.

Criteria of success

• determines the relationship between the location on the boundary of lithospheric plates and the occurrence of volcanoes and earthquakes;

• indicates and names the elements of a volcanic cone in a figure;

• discuss the difference between a volcanic cone and a shield volcano, and the difference between an active volcano and an extinct volcano;

• you will indicate places on a physical world map with the largest active volcanoes;

• you will draw conclusions about the Pacific ring of fire;

• justifies how volcanoes affect human life.

Key competences

• communication in the mother tongue;

• communication in a foreign language;

• learning to learn;

• digital competence.

Methods / forms of work

• using ICT tools;

• activity with educational material and multimedia on the epodreczniki.pl platform;

• using the Google Earth programme;

• mental map;

• individual activity, activity in pairs, and collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook for teaching geography;

• interactive whiteboard;

• multimedia projector;

• tablets/computers;

• map of world: geological structure;

• physical map of world;

• Physical map of Europe;

• geographical atlases.

Lesson plan overview

Introduction

1. The teacher introduces the students to the topic using a short film about volcanoes in the abstract. The teacher draws the students' attention to the features of a volcanic landscape.

2. The teacher uses the mental map method to obtain information from students concerning knowledge of volcanoes. The students write their associations on the board.

Realization

1.The teacher refers the students to source materials in the abstract and in other sources to answer the following questions:

• when do volcanic phenomena arise?

• what is the relationship between a tectonic structure and volcanic phenomena?

2. The teacher explains what a rift zone (spreading) and a subduction zone are.

3. The students work in pairs and using the atlas they search for the map: Geological structure of the world. They indicate tectonic plates of Europe, North America and Asia.

4. The teacher indicates a student who point to Iceland on the wall maps of the world and Europe.

5. The students work again in pairs with atlases: they determine the geographical position of Iceland. Then, 2‑3 pairs read aloud their answers for the teacher's command.

6. Using Google Earth, the teacher shows the students the area of Iceland. The teacher operates the scale of the map so as to show them the approximate area of active volcanoes.

7. Work in pairs - the students analyse the boundary line of the lithospheric plates in Iceland.

8. Interactive exercise: a map. The teacher asks one student to write the names of appropriate plates that divide Iceland in boxes.

9. The teacher refers the students to a graphic in the abstract depicting the structure of a volcano. The students analyse the elements that make up the structure of a volcano. Then, they carry out an interactive exercise (an interactive whiteboard) by placing signatures in the right places in the illustration of a volcano.

10. The teacher, using the photo gallery in the abstract, shows pictures of a shield volcano and a volcanic cone. The students identify differences in appearance, and then based on text from the source material they analyse the causes of formation of these two types of volcanoes.

11. The teacher emphasizes that low‑viscous liquid, alkaline, and basaltic lavas form shield volcanoes with large, slightly inclined slopes. Whereas dense, acidic, siliceous, slow‑flowing lavas often close a crater’s vent, creating plugs in volcanic pipes and obstructing the escape of gases. Therefore, the compressed gases have enormous power and are often followed by powerful, catastrophic eruptions. Acidic, dense lavas form volcanic cones with steep and high slopes.

12. The students do interactive exercises in the abstract.

13. The teacher indicates a student who must find the Mauna Kea volcano, using the Google Earth programme. The teacher draws the students’ attention to its structure.

14. The teacher refers the students to a graphic in the abstract depicting the Pacific ring of fire. The teacher asks the students what is the connection between volcanic activity and the frequent occurrence of earthquakes in this area and the structure of tectonic plates. Discussion.

15. The teacher explains that Poland lies in the area of extinct volcanoes and we are not in dange of volcanic phenomena. The teacher indicates volcanic mountains which are a proof of volcanoes occurring long ago, for example, in the Silesian Upland. The students analyze photos of Czartowska Skała and Ostrzyca (Kaczawskie Mountains) in the abstract,  indicating the characteristics of a volcanic landscape.

Summary

1. At the end of the class, the teacher refers the students to any video recording showing a volcanic eruption (such videos can be found, for example, on YouTube).

2. The teacher assesses the students' activity during the lesson, appreciating their engagement and commitment.

3. Homework: The influence of volcanoes on human life. A multimedia presentation form is allowed.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

What is a volcano and how is it build?

Volcanic phenomena arise as a result of the high pressure of matter that is located deep below the Earth's surface, in the Earth's crust or the mantle. Magma is formed there – a hot, molten mass of rocks, with a lot of water and gases. This pressure causes the solid, liquid and gaseous volcanic products escape to the surface of the Earth. Through cracks and openings in the Earth's crust the melted rock mass is poured, i.e. lava, and gases and volcanic ashes are pushed into the atmosphere. A place where lava and other volcanic products escape to the surface of the continents or to the bottom of the sea is called volcano. The course of the eruption and the shape of the volcanic cones depend on the gas pressure and the temperature and viscosity of lava.
Volcanoes, from which thick lava, a lot of gases and ashes escape, usually take the shape of high cones, that is why we call them cone volcanoes. Their eruptions are violent and dangerous to people. Mild, slow eruptions of thin lava, with a small amount of volcanic gases, form flat shield volcanoes. Volcanoes are formed most often in subduction zones and then magma is formed from melted rocks of sinking lithosphere plates. Many volcanoes also occur in spreading zones (both on land and on the ocean floor), and the lava spilling out of them comes from the Earth's mantle. Volcanoes are also found far from the boundaries of the lithosphere plates, but within their range. They are formed over the so‑called hot spots, i.e. places where convection currents in the Earth's mantle provide so much heat that it can melt the lithosphere and allow the magma to travel towards the Earth's surface. One of the largest hot spots is located under the Yellowstone National Park in the USA.

Get acquainted with the elements of the volcano at the moment of the explosion (below).

During the eruption of the volcano, volcanic material escapes into the atmosphere (magma, pyroclastic materials, volatile substances: gases, various).