This site is an amazing resource for teachers and students. It offers video, audio and photography as well as a wealth of information about volcanoes. The website was originally founded in 1995 by NASA. Browsing the website one can learn how to build your own volcano or about the locations and eruptions of real volcanoes around the world. These are just some of the amazing activities available on at Volcano World website.
The website has a list of categories at the top. These are links such as ‘Volcanoes’ which includes videos and information about volcanoes of Earth and other planets. By clicking ‘Eruptions’ a comprehensive list of volcanoes, their locations and their least eruptions and photos appears. The ‘Adventures’ link brings up stories and audio clips from real explorers. There are sections dedicated to teaching children about lava and volcanic gases and deposits. Children can learn what causes volcanoes and what effect they have on the earth. There is a variety of activities and resources to be used in and out of the classroom.
There are many options for lesson planning when using this website as a resource. Depending on the level of the students and the subject which you wish to discuss you can find a variety of ideas from the volcano world site. The project/ lesson I choose is multidisciplinary. It deals with both art and science and is more discovery learning based then lecture or traditionally based.
1. Introduction of volcanoes to the class via the Volcano World website.
2. Create as a class a list of important terms that should be included in their projects.
3. Students are asked to, over a two week period, create their own active volcano using ideas from the website which include; paper, cardboard, clay pebbles etc. or ideas of their own.
4. Each student must be able to explain and/ or show understanding of the key concepts.
5. The students will be asked to present their active volcanoes to each other in class.
As a form of assessment after the presentations students will be asked to complete a creative writing assignment. The prompt for this assignment would be as follows; you are an explorer ready to go inside a volcano. Based on the information you learned from your research write a story about the where you are, what you see, what you hear.
This activity is hands on and creative. Many students will retain more information by doing rather then observing or listening. Students will also enjoy the concept of learning by doing and are more likely to remember the project if they had fun completing it. The website is also a great reference for the future and can be easily accessed. This lesson can be used anywhere from about 2nd grade up. If you wanted to use it for a middle school group you would have to simply alter you expectations and assessment to fit a more advanced group. As this lesson idea is written I would use it for 4th or 5th grade.
This is a very comprehensive website and there is not many things I found to be missing. The one thing that could be changed is that it does direct you to some outside links. Some of the fun games and online field trips require you to click a link that takes you to an outside source. These activities also occasionally require extra downloads or browsers. There is not a page or link that gives you just the definitions of terms or ideas. The vocabulary terms are defined in the context, which is both positive and negative.
The strengths of this resource are abundant. I was really happy to find such a knowledge based and useful website to use. There is interaction as well as great facts. There are a variety of games and quizzes and also virtual field trips to engage the students. Everything is arranged in an organized and clear manner. There is nothing additional I would add to this website it is very comprehensive. It was also originated by NASA which is a very trusted and reputable source for science information.
Science Grade 5
Standard-
Students will use scientific skills and processes to explain the chemical and physical interactions of the environment, Earth, and the universe that occur over time.
Indicator-
Recognize and describe the internal and external structure of the Earth.
Sample Objectives-
?
Identify
and describe the Earth's core and mantle.
· Identify and describe the Earth's crust.
Jackie Serino