BACKGROUND:
The Hawaiian Islands are composed of a chain of shield
volcanoes including Kilauea and Mauna Loa on the island of Hawaii ,which are
two of the world’s most active volcanoes. As you go northeast from the
island of Hawaii, the volcanoes become inactive, and the islands grow older
and older. The Hawaiian Islands are one of the few volcanic sites that are
not associated with plate boundaries. Instead, the volcanism in Hawaii is
caused by a hot spot, a stationary plume of magma the originates below the
plates in the Earth’s lower mantle. This plume has melted its way through
the plate, erupting lava to make the islands.
The floor of the ocean is more than 5000 meters deep
off shore from the islands. Mauna Loa itself is almost 4200 meters high.
This combined height makes Mauna Loa the "tallest" mountain on
Earth.
The eruptive style of the Hawaiian volcanoes is mainly
quiet. Basaltic lava pours out from long fissures instead of central vents,
and floods the surrounding area with lava. The video tape will provide more
information on the background of Kilauea.
PROCEDURE:
- Show either the entire or part of the video presentation of the
1959-60 Kilauea eruption. You can make the film interactive by stopping
the video when one of the questions can be answered on the lab sheet.
Note that the vocabulary is very difficult if the students do not learn
to take clues from the video. Every time the video says a new word they
usually have a picture as an example. Some students need to be taught to
recognize this. Ask them questions, stop the video and by the end of the
tape, they will be able to figure out the new words. If you have another
appropriate video you can develop your own vocabulary list.
- Discuss the following questions and the vocabulary words they present
with the class. They are given below in their order of presentation in
the film. You do not have to stop at every word; treat this as a list of
words that may be confusing. Use the list to develop questions for your
students. The answers are presented clearly within the context of the
film.
1. What is a caldera?
2. What is a lava lake?
3. What is a flank eruption?
4. What does subside mean?
5. What is a seismograph?
6. What is lava fountain? Braided lava?
7. What is sparkling light?
8. What is a lobe?
9. Does the word thoelitic basalt have any meaning to a K-6 student?
(no)
10. How can gas cause splashing of lava?
11. What is a trough?
12. What is a cascade of spatter rampart?
13. What is the seismograph showing?
14. What are the geologists doing near the volcano?
15. What do you observe as the lava is flowing?
16. What is a viscous fluid?
17. What does incandescence mean?
18. What is a levee?
19. Where is Niagara Falls? (NY)
20. What is pumice?
21. What does lull mean?
22. What are cubic yards of lava?
23. Is Kilaeua a violent eruption?
24. What is a vent?
25. Can these people get hurt?
26. What is a spatter?
27. Spatter as large as bathtubs, how large is that?
28. What is an ocean surf?
29. How hot is 1200 degrees centigrade?
30. What is the color in lava caused by ? (Gas)
31. How does lava move?
32. What happens when the lava meets a tree?
33. What is a cinder cone?
34. What does drain downward to the vent mean?
35. What is a whirlpool? Backflow?
36. Where is downwind? What are these sticks? (trees)
37. How long will the lava lake take to cool?
38. Why was the town evacuated?
39. Where is the graben in the village?
40. What is a flank eruption?
41. What are basaltic dikes?
42. What are the geologists doing?
43. What is a conduit?
44. Which is steam, which is lava?
45. Where is the steam coming from?
46. Why does lava go to the oceans?
47. Why is there a steam cloud when lava hits water?
48. What is an aa flow? Pahoehoe flow?
49. Why are the Papyrus leaves stripped?
50. What is slowly consumed?
51. How can lava be extruded?
52. Where is the Washington monument?
53. Did the volcano make land?
54. How long does it take to recuperate from a volcanic eruption?
