|
Journeys to Alaska: Volcanoes
Activities
Hands-On Activities for Journeys to Alaska - The Power of Volcanoes
Katmai National Park and Preserve
The activities are the educational
core of the electronic field trip. They represent a variety
of learning styles from discussion to hands-on
experimentation and demonstration. All activities will
require some research on the Internet. Hot links to
facilitate this research are a part of each activity. They
are divided below into core curricular sections to help you
make your selections.
GEOLOGY - The Earth's Surface
- Earth's Crust Earth as an
Egg [Student
Page] [Teacher
Page] [Standards]
Suggested
Age Level: Grades 6-8 Activity Type:
Demonstration/Discussion
Suggested Time: 1-2 days, depending upon time needed for
research
Students
will read information on the Internet to determine the
layers of the Earth's surface and their size as a
percentage of the whole. Then, they will explore this
concept using a hard-boiled egg as a
model.
- Geologic Time The Passage
of Time
[Student Page]
[Teacher
Page] [Standards]
Suggested
Age Level: Grades 6-8 Activity Type: Teacher-directed
Demonstration/Writing
Suggested Time: 1-2 days, depending upon time needed for
research
Students
will work through a short exercise to illustrate the
methods scientists use to create the geologic time scale.
They will participate in a demonstration of the creation
of the geologic time scale and use metaphors of their own
devising to illustrate their experience.
- Glaciers All About Glaciers
[Student
Page] [Teacher
Page] [Standards]
Suggested
Age Level: Grades 7-9 Activity Type: Modeling
Suggested Time: 1-2 classes for research; 1-2 classes to
build model; 1 class day to use
model
Students
will use a system of graphic organization to gather
descriptive information about glaciers and create a model
of a system of glaciers to illustrate their
findings.
- Rock Cycle The Story of a
Rock [Student
Page] [Teacher
Page] [Standards]
Suggested
Age Level: Grades 6-8 Activity Type: Flowchart/Creative
Writing
Suggested Time: 2 days in class; 1 day out of class
research
Students
list the geologic events that began with sea floor
spreading and the creation of an island arc in the
Pacific Ocean west of present-day Mexico to the creation
of a vein of copper ore. Using a model of a rock cycle of
the Earth, students translate their list of events to a
similar rock cycle flow chart. They use this flow chart
to write an imaginary "biography" of a
mineral.
- Mineral Identification
Which Mineral Is Which? [Student
Page] [Teacher
Page] [Standards]
Suggested
Age Level: Grades 5-8 Activity Type: Deductive
Thinking
Suggested Time: 1-2 days, depending upon Internet
access
In this
activity students will use common characteristics of
minerals to identify ten mystery minerals collected from
the Aleutian Mountains through deductive reasoning.
PLATE TECTONICS - Volcanoes and Earthquakes
- Earthquakes The
Virtual Earthquake [Student
Page] [Teacher
Page] [Standards]
Suggested
Age Level: Grades 6-8 Activity Type: Web-based
simulation
Suggested Time: 2 days in class; or out of class
research.
Students
explore the Virtual Earthquake computer program on the
Internet, They learn the concepts of how an
earthquake Epicenter is located and how the Richter
Magnitude of an earthquake is determined.
- Movement of Plates
Floating Plates [Student
Page] [Teacher
Page] [Standards]
Suggested
Age Level: Grades 6-8 Activity Type: Hand-on
Demonstration
Suggested Time: 3-4 days, depending upon time needed for
research and preparation and presentation of
demonstrations
Students
will read information on the Internet to learn about the
theory of Plate Tectonics and its effect on the Earth's
crust. They will use their information to create
demonstrations of specific tectonic phenomena to share in
class and to illustrate the basic creative phenomena that
helped to form the Aleutian mountain
ranges.
- Volcanic Action Setting the
Scene: The Stages of An Island Arc [Student
Page] [Teacher
Page] [Standards]
Suggested
Age Level: Grades 5-8 Activity Type: 3D Model
Building
Suggested Time: 1-5 days, depending upon the time needed
for the models to dry and be
painted
In
this activity students will read about and make scale
models to learn about the formation of the Aleutian
mountain range.
- Volcano Characteristics
Setting the Scene: Surfing for Earthquakes and
Volcanoes
[Student Page]
[Teacher
Page] [Standards]
Suggested
Age Level: Grades 5-8 Activity Type: Internet
Research
Suggested Time: 1-2 days, depending upon the time allowed
for Internet research
In
this activity students will explore several Internet web
sites to find out more about volcanoes and
earthquakes.
- Volcano Eruption Lava
Layering
[Student Page]
[Teacher
Page] [Standards]
Suggested
Age Level: Grades 6-8 Activity Type:
Hands-on/Discussion
Suggested Time: 1-2 days, depending upon time needed for
research
Lava layering is an interest to volcanologist.
This activity shows what happens when lava flow on top of
each other.
- Volcanic Eruption 2
The Katmai Caldera [Student
Page] [Teacher
Page] [Standards]
Suggested
Age Level: Grades 5-8 Activity Type: Internet
Research
Suggested Time: 1-2 days, depending upon the time allowed
for Internet research
An interactive Web-site designed to introduce
students to the concepts of how a caldera such at Katmai
Mountain is formed.
ANIMAL LIFE
- The Black Bear Bear
Mannerisms [Student
Page]
[Teacher Page]
[Standards]
Suggested
Age Level: Grades 6-8 Activity Type:
Demonstration/Discussion
Suggested Time: 1-2 days, depending upon time needed for
research
Students
will read information on the Internet to determine
important mannerisms of the Black Bear
- Bear Facts Bear
Facts[Student
Page ]
[Teacher Page ]
[Standards]
Suggested
Age Level: Grades 5-8 Activity Type: Internet
Research
Suggested Time: 1-2 days, depending upon the time allowed
for Internet research
An interactive Web-site designed to introduce
students to the Brown Bear found in large numbers at
Brooks Camp
- The Sockeye Salmon Salmon -
Coming Home [Student
Page]
[Teacher Page]
[Standards]
Suggested
Age Level: Grades 6-8 Activity Type:
Hands-on/Discussion
Suggested Time: 1-2 days, depending upon time needed for
research
In this activity students can experience first
hand what it is like to be a returning salmon attempting
to find its home by smell. This activity provides for the
entire class to participate in the life cycle of the
Pacific salmon and the hazards of their
journey.
ECOSYSTEMS/CLIMATE
- Ecosystems Generalizations
About An Ecosystem [Student
Page]
[Teacher Page]
[Standards]
Suggested
Age Level: Grades 6-8 Activity Type:
Reading/Presentation
Suggested Time: 2 days in class; 1-2 days out of class
research
Students
work in small groups to research information about the
ecosystem of an old growth forest. Students will use
information from their research to make generalizations
about the forest's future, possible management decisions
and the impact of this "natural disaster."
- Weather and Climate
Watching the Weather [Student
Page] [Teacher
Page] [Standards]
Suggested
Age Level: Grades 5-8 Activity Type:
Lab/Research/Discussion
Suggested Time: 1-2 classroom days to build weather
instruments; 30 days of
measuring the weather and keeping a Weather Log; 1
classroom day
to discuss and analyze weather
results
In
this activity, students will build a weather station to
track weather data in their own area, compare it to
similar data for a specific location in the Aleutian
Mountains that is broadcast on The Weather Channel; and,
make comparisons between their own area's weather and
that of the Aleutians.
PHYSICAL
SCIENCE
ARCHEOLOGY
|
