Week 7: Volcanic Eruption

Week Seven: Volcanic Eruption
Volcanoes & Global Climate Change
Weeks 7, 8, and 9 make up a three-week cycle about a volcanic eruption. Currently, you are in the Sphere Study week of the cycle.

This week you will become “experts” in the relationship of individual spheres to volcanoes. You will need to study the resources listed under Readings discuss your key ideas in the Classroom Sphere Study Space, then submit your team’s work for a grade.

Go to Group and Team Formation to find out which sphere you are studying during this module.

Assignments:

First, submit your individual questions, theories, and prior knowledge about this event and Earth Systems Science to your Portfolio in the Classroom.

Individual (by midnight Tuesday)

Review the Reflection Goal and Rubric
Read about volcanoes
Discuss your ideas about the effect of volcanoes on your sphere in Sphere Space in the Classroom.

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Team: (by midnight Sunday)

Review the Sphere Study Goal and Rubric .
Describe your sphere in detail in Sphere Space in the Classroom so you can share it with your Event Team next week. Refer to the Week 3: An Example of an ESS Analysis reading if you would like to review causal relationships.

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Submit to the Portfolio in the Classroom your team's most accurate analysis of the Sphere - Event interactions with reasoning and support.

Suggested Activities for Your Students

Change and Cycles: Lesson, Where Land, Air, and Water Meet. Although this activity explores concepts such as parts per million using liquids, it can be extended to help students understand concern over changes in carbon dioxide, methane and other trace gases.

"When the Sulfur Flows <-> You Get Temperature Lows." Welcome to NASA's Earth Science Enterprise: Educational Activity Supplement. pp. 35-39.

Go to the NASA EOS IDS Volcanology Web site. Click on Educational Outreach, then Links to Other Volcano K-12 Educational Sites: Lessons and Activities. Select an activity or lesson to do with your students.

Look at the Volcanoes Module in Exploring the Environment™.

You will want to locate other resources locally and on the Internet to supplement these. Post the resources you find in Resource Space in the Classroom.

Readings

Read about the volcanic eruption of Mt. Pinatubo and its effects.

Welcome to NASA's Earth Science Enterprise: Educational CD-ROM Under the Air section

“Atmospheric Phenomena” pp. 8-13
“Volcanoes and Climate Changes”

NASA Fact Sheet: Volcanoes and Global Climate Change Includes data on the effects volcanic eruptions have on ozone depletion and global cooling. Discusses NASA's role in monitoring.

Web Sites

USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory News, current activity updates, hazard assessment maps, and general information on volcanoes.

Exploring the Environment™ Includes a problem based learning module on volcanoes for students.

Volcanoes and Climate Change Large-scale volcanic activity may only last a few days, but the gasses and ash can influence climate patterns for years.

Astronauts Photograph Mt. Pinatubo