Lesson 4:
Volcanoes
Lesson Title:
Volcanoes
Topic:
Types of Volcanoes and Eruptions
Grades:
6th grade
Essential Question(s): What kinds of volcanic landforms are there? How do
eruptions differ?
Know Goals:
Understand Goals:
Do Goals:
Know the kinds of landforms that are created by
volcanic eruptions
Understand that the material that erupts from the
volcano determines what its shape will be (cone,
shield, or composite)
Compare and contrast the types of volcanoes
Describe how the types of volcanic eruptions differ
from one another
Standards Addressed:
6.1e – Students know major geologic events, such as earthquakes,
volcanic eruptions, and mountain building, result from plate motions.
Rationale: Students explore how the Earth’s surface is changed by
volcanic events and recognize that these events are the result of
plate movements below the Earth’s surface. Mt. Lassen, Mt. Shasta and
Mt. St. Helens are nearby landforms that have all be created by
volcanic eruptions and much of California and Chico’s geography was
shaped by volcanic activity.
Strategies to support academic language development:
 Develop vocabulary: comparing cinder cone volcanoes to a cinder
block used to construct buildings. Shield volcanoes are broad and
gently sloped; students name other things that have the shape of
shield. Relate the meaning of the word composite to a composite
volcano – a composite volcano is made up of various parts.
 Sort information: remind students that the names of people, places
and things may begin with a capital letter. Have them write the names
of volcanoes on the board.
 Rephrase: work in small groups to review information about the
various types of volcanoes, take turns explaining in their own words
how each type forms
 Generate questions: have students ask and answer questions about the
text before, during, and after reading
Concept
Vocabulary:
Language Skills:
Cinder cone volcano
Shield volcano
Composite volcano
Peléean eruption
Vulcanian eruption
Strombolian eruption
Hawaiian eruption
Listening, reading, speaking, and writing
Language
Functions:
Discuss the difference between various types of
volcanic eruptions
Use gestures, words, phrases, and sentences to answer
teacher generated questions
Orally explain responses and how they decided on them
after sufficient think-time
Compare and contrast types of volcanoes by writing
evidence from the text in appropriate blanks of a
graphic organizer
Language
Functions:
Verb tenses, use of pronouns, prepositions,
conjunctions, questions, word order
ELD Standard(s):
》 Respond to messages by asking questions, challenging statements,
or offering examples that affirm that messages.
》 Speak clearly and comprehensibly by using standard English
grammatical forms, sounds, intonation, pitch, and modulation.
Alignment With Standards
Language and Content Objectives: Students describe the process of magma
formation and its eruption. Students orally engage in discussion to
compare and contrast the types of volcanoes and volcanic eruptions.
Students analyze quick and slow lava flow in terms of its level of
danger and potential for damage and explain their reasoning.
Strategy: Guided reading (direct instruction), cooperative groups,
discussion, conducting experiments/building models
Universal Access:
Extra Support:
Students fold a sheet of unlined paper into thirds, draw and label a
cross section of one type of volcano in each section. Students write a
caption for each drawing that describes the way it forms.
What categories describe how often a volcano erupts? (Active,
inactive, and extinct)
Enrichment:
Since A.D. 79, Mount Vesuvius has erupted five times: 1631, 1794,
1906, and 1944. What type of volcano is Mount Vesuvius, according to
its frequency of eruption? Explain. (Intermittent volcano because it
has erupted at fairly frequent intervals)
Required Teacher Background Information:
Knowledge of plate tectonics and the impact of geologic events on the
surface of the Earth. Prior experience with types of local volcanoes
and a basic knowledge of local geologic history.
Task Analysis:
Volcanic eruptions often occur at plate boundaries, volcanoes can
erupt at any time but most produce warning signs such as earthquakes
or swelling of the ground.
Procedures
Introduction
Anticipatory Set:
Communicate
Objectives:
No two volcanoes are exactly alike, and each type of
volcano has a different shape. Today we are going to
investigate why each volcano looks different and the
kind of eruption that is associated with each shape.
Mt. Lassen and Mt. Shasta are two relatively close
volcanoes and by understanding the type of volcanoes
they are the kind of eruptions they usually have we
can predict when they will erupt again and if the
eruption will be dangerous or not.
Our goal(s) today are to compare and contrast the
types of volcanoes and eruptions and use details
about what volcanoes are made of, the type of lava
and the type of eruption to analyze how dangerous a
volcano might be.
Activity Sequence
》 Read together: pages 314-315 stopping to discuss
key vocabulary words as they come up in the
text.
Instructional Input:
》 Look at the visuals on pages 314-315, how can
you compare and contrast the shapes of the
landforms created by volcanic eruptions? (The
cinder cone volcano has the steepest sides. The
composite volcano has steep, even sides and a
small cone. The shield volcano is the largest of
the three landforms and the most distinct. It
has a broad surface and gently sloping sides)
》 Why do you think it would take such a long time
for a shield volcano such as Mauna Loa to form?
(A shield volcano is made of many layers. A
layer is formed when a lava flow cools and
hardens. It would take years for enough layers
to accumulate to form a shield volcano such as
Mauna Loa.
》 Read together: pages 316-317 stopping to
discuss vocabulary
》 Look at the photograph on page 316, how do you
think the eruption of Mount St. Helens affected
people, plants, animals and the environment?
(The eruption killed people living nearby,
destroyed their homes, leveled timber stands on
the mountain, and killed or displaced many
animals, The eruption also destroyed parts of
the mountain)
》 What conclusions can you draw about the amount
of gas in the magma of less-violent eruptions?
(When gases are trapped in magma, they build up
tremendous pressure and cause violent volcanic
eruptions. The magma of less-violent eruptions
contains less gas)
》 Illustrate the different types of lava with 3
clear containers half-filled with molasses (or
other similar substance) at three different
temperatures: chilled, room temperature and
heated. Students, in groups, pour the chilled
and room temperature samples and observe rate of
flow.
》 Give a class demonstration of the pouring of the
heated sample, students experiment with the
chilled and room temperature molasses in groups
》 Groups fill out Molasses Lab Worksheet as they
work through the experiments
Guided Practice:
》 Discuss: the chilled sample would produce a
Peléean eruption, because the molasses is
similar to the sticky magma that traps gases.
The room-temperature sample would produce a
Strombolian eruption. The molasses in this
sample is similar to thick magma. It may stop up
the vent, but pressure is released frequently.
The heated sample would produce a Hawaiian
eruption, because the heated molasses, like the
lava, is highly liquid.
》 Pass out the Volcanic Landforms Chart, students’
work in pairs to match the eruption to the
correct type of volcano (shield-Hawaiin; cinderStrombolian; composite-Peléean).
》 Discuss: Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Shasta, and Mt.
Lassen to discuss local varieties of composite
volcanoes. What kind of lava would be produced
if they erupted? What kind of eruption would it
be? What might the consequences be if one of
them erupted?
》 What are the three kinds of landforms created by
the eruptions of volcanoes? (Cinder cone
volcanoes, shield volcanoes, and composite
volcanoes).
Check for
Understanding:
》 How do the types of volcanic eruptions differ?
(Hawaiian eruptions are the least violent.
Strombolian eruptions occur frequently and are
fairly gentle, because pressure is released
gradually. Vulcanian eruptions start with huge,
loud explosions followed by smaller ones; ash,
dust, and other volcanic materials are blown
into the air. Peléean volcanoes abruptly release
tons of rock and ash as well as hot, poisonous
gases)
Independent
Practice:
Students finish the remaining three columns of the
Volcanic Landforms Chart graphic organizer
independently
Assessment:
Molasses Lab Worksheet
Volcanic Landforms Chart graphic organizer to be
graded for accuracy
Closure:
》 The material that erupts from the volcano determines its shape.
Cinders form small, steep-sided cinder cone volcanoes. Liquid
lava flows from a vent and spreads out in all directions to
create the broad, flat shape of the shield volcano. Composite
volcanoes are made of layers of lava and layers of ash, cinders,
and rocks.
》 The four types of eruptions from the most violent to the least
violent are Peléean, Vulcanian, Strombolian, and Hawaiian
Materials: CA Earth Science textbook, varied temperature molasses
samples, Volcanic Landforms Chart graphic organizer