Subject Area(s): Earth Science
Associated Unit: none
Associated Lesson: none
Activity Title: Hot Spot Hawaii!
Image 1
ADA Description: Hawaiian Island Hot Spot
Caption: none
Image file name: Hawaiian_island_hot_spot
Source/Rights: Copyright ©
https://frontpage.northseattle.edu/gel101tb/gel101tb/labs/websites/Hot%20S
pots%20and%20Mantle%20Plumes_files/Matt%27s_Island_Diagram.gif
Grade Level: 6 - 9
Activity Dependency: none
Time Required: 50 minutes
Group Size: 6
Expendable Cost per Group: $2.00
Summary
Students learn how the Hawaiian Islands formed simulating the movement of the Pacific plate
over a hot spot in the earth’s mantle. Students then are given biological data to aid them in
figuring out the relative age of the islands.
Engineering Connection
This activity introduces the concept of plate tectonics and volcano formation through hot spots.
Geothermal and civil engineers must understand the concepts of plate movements and volcano
activity in order to design structures that either utilize earth’s heat energy or prevent damage
from natural phenomena like volcano eruptions.
Engineering Category
(1) relates science concept to engineering
Level of Inquiry
This activity uses inquiry-based learning for latter part of this activity. Students first perform a
directed simulation. They are undirected when asked to figure out the relative age of the islands
and must use what they learned from the simulation as well as biological data to figure the
question.
Keywords
hot spot, Hawaii, island, volcano, plate tectonics, dispersal, colonization
Educational Standards
State science:
Earth and Life History (Earth Sciences), (1998), grade 7
4f.Students know how movements of Earth’s continental and oceanic plates through time, with
associated changes in climate and geographic connections, have affected the past and present
distribution of organisms.
Dynamic Earth Processes (1998), grades 9-12
3. Plate tectonics operating over geologic time has changed the patterns of land, sea, and
mountains on Earth’s surface. As the basis for understanding this concept:
3f.* Students know the explanation for the location and properties of volcanoes that are due to
hot spots and the explanation for those that are due to subduction.
Investigation and Experimentation (1998), grades 9-12
d. Formulate explanations by using logic and evidence.
Pre-Requisite Knowledge
Pre-requisite knowledge includes an understanding of what volcanoes are and how they are
formed, as well as introductory knowledge of plate tectonics.
Learning Objectives
After this activity, students should be able to:
 Understand and describe how hot spot volcanoes are formed and be able to explain what the
lines of evidence are that indicate the relative age of the Hawaiian Islands.
Materials List
Each group needs:
 6 sheets of 8.5 x 11” paper, 6 small sheets of paper (cut 1 sheet in 6 pieces), 2-3 red pens,
tape, and a handout (attached)
Vocabulary / Definitions
Word
Definition
hot spot
A place in the upper mantle at which magma from the lower mantle rises to melt
through the crust. It usually occurs in the interior of a tectonic plate to form a
volcanic feature.
mantle
The layer of the earth between the crust and the core.
dispersal
To spread or scatter. In this sense, the spreading of a species to different islands
colonization Establishment. In this sense, of a species on an island that it had not inhabited
before.
Procedure
Background
The teacher should introduce or review material on volcanoes and explain how plate tectonics
are responsible for their formation. He/ she can then explain how there are several ways that
volcanoes can be formed and that one of these ways (via a hot spot in the mantle) is exemplified
nicely by the Hawaiian Islands (show on the map). Students should not need a lot of
introduction about hot spots as the activity simulates how hot spot islands form. The teacher
may show some video clips of Hawaiian volcanoes if desired.
Before the Activity
 Count out 6 sheets of plain white 8.5 x 11” paper and cut 6 small sheets (approx. 1/6th of an
8.5 x 11” sheet) of white paper for each group. Each student will be making their own hot
spot. Put in 1 bin per group: 3-4 orange pens, masking tape
 Give each student one of the attached handouts
With the Students
1. Students will draw a “hot spot” with an orange pen (to signify hot magma) on their small piece
of paper and tape it to their desk in front of them.
2. Students will take a large piece of paper and place the far left side over the hot spot.
3. They will draw a circle on their large paper over the hotspot (you should be able to see the
hotspot through the paper). By doing this they are simulating the formation of the first of the
Hawaiian island.
4. Students should now move the paper to the left about 1 inch. This simulates the Pacific plate
moving over the hot spot westward. Students should draw another island.
5. Repeat until they have 4 islands, representing Kauai, Maui, Oahu, and Hawaii (the smaller
islands are left out for simplicity)
6. Student should label Kauai, Oahu, Maui, and Hawaii in the correct order on your map using
a map on their handout.
Figure 1
ADA Description: Hawaiian Islands
Caption: none
Image file name: hawaiian_islands
Source/Rights: Copyright © http://www.hawaii.edu/cps/islands.jpg
Attachments
Hot Spot Hawaii Worksheet
Safety Issues
There are no dangerous materials used in this activity.
Troubleshooting Tips
Investigating Questions
See attached worksheet.
Assessment
Pre-Activity Assessment:
Title: Preliminary questions for students
Ask student the following questions:
Has anyone been to the Hawaiian Islands? What did you see there? (Answer: some students may
say they saw a volcano)
Does anyone know how the Hawaiian Islands were formed? (Answer: cooled lava from volcanic
eruptions)
What is the really hot stuff below the earth’s surface called? Does it ever come to the surface?
How so? (Answer: Magma, Yes, through volcanoes)
Does anyone notice something peculiar or unique about the placement of the islands (Answer:
yes, they are in a straight line (though a bit curved)).
Activity Embedded Assessment:
Title: Activity and Biological Data Analysis
The teacher should make sure that students are reading the directions and doing the steps of the
activity in the right order. The teacher can ask students what they think the orange dot on the
small paper and the big sheet of paper represent. What do they notice happens before they draw
a new Hawaiian island?
Make sure that students move on to the second part of the activity after they have made and
labeled their Hawaiian Islands. Students should be sure to read the first paragraph before
beginning this part of the activity because comprehending the questions is important. They can
work as a group to figure out the answers.
Post-Activity Assessment
Title: Follow-up Questions & Class Discussion
Students should answer all questions on the worksheet. The teacher can ask one member of each
group the answer to each question and discuss any confusion as a class. The answers that
students come up with should reflect their understanding that the further the island is from the
initial colonization event and diversification of the ancestral silversword (Kauai), the fewer
number of species the island will contain. This is because it takes longer for species to disperse
across the ocean at longer distances, so the youngest islands are “too young” to have been
inhabited by all the silversword species.
For the bonus question, a good answer would be that one see more species on younger
islands because an ancestral species diversified into numerous species (i.e., speciated) after it got
there. For instance, some species may be only found on Hawaii (the youngest island), because
an ancestral species didn’t speciate (or speciated less) on the other islands before it got there.
Activity Extensions
Activity Scaling
 For lower grades, the second portion on using silverswords can be eliminated. The activity
can also be done in front of the class on an overhead projector with the teacher explaining
what is happening as the plate moves and islands form over the hot spot.

For upper grades, the activity can be made more difficult by not guiding the students on how
to label the islands or asking them to look up in their book or on a classroom map what the
different islands are. One could also ask what direction the plate is moving in instead of just
asking them to draw an arrow. The teacher can provide a map of plate boundaries and
volcanoes and ask them where other volcanoes formed by hot spots might be (e.g., ones not
around plate boundaries). Also, giving the students more evidence of biological dispersal
data of different plants/ animals, but not giving them the hint that dispersal takes longer to
occur at greater distances would make this activity more inquiry-based. One can also add
questions about why the older islands are smaller and young ones are larger (older islands
have eroded and the youngest one, Hawaii, is still above the hot spot and thus growing).
Additional Multimedia Support
Hawaiian Hot Spots: Undersea Volcanic Studies (National Geographic)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOCfb9ox_90
Clips of Hawaii’s volcanoes:
Volcanoes erupting on the Big Island of Hawaii
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hec9yK-QQ4o&feature=related
Kilauea Volcano Erupts - Dramatic Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=488BkTUsMa4&feature=related
References
Baldwin, B.G., Sanderson, M.J. 1998. Age and rate of diversification of the Hawaiian
silversword alliance (Compositae). Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95:9402-9406.
Map of Hawaiian Islands on worksheet:
http://betke.net/honeymoon/hawaiian_islands.gif
Union of Concerned Scientists (website on geothermal engineering)
http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/technology_and_impacts/energy_technologies/howgeothermal-energy-works.html
Waynes World: Noteworthy plants
http://waynesword.palomar.edu/pldec398.htmhttp://waynesword.palomar.edu/pldec398.htm
Whittaker, R.J. 1998. Island Biogeography: Ecology, Evolution, & Conseration. Oxford
University Press.
Other
Redirect URL
[For TE submissions only]
Owner
UCLA SEE-LA GK-12 Program, University of California, Los Angeles.
Contributors
Developer: Brittany Enzmann. This activity was developed as part of the UCLA Science and
Engineering of the Environment of Los Angeles (SEE-LA GK-12) program and has been
classroom tested in several 9th grade Integrated Coordinates Science classes at University High
School in Los Angeles.
Copyright