Emergency Volcanologist
Report
Designed by Mr. Chris Weiler Doyle Elementary School, Central Bucks School District Contact: cweiler@cbsd.org |
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Introduction | It’s About to Blow!| Volcano Emergency Preparedness Specialties|
Report Criteria| Developing Your Report| Mission Accomplished! | Credits Introduction
“What time does the volcano
erupt?”
-Tourist on
Mt. Etna in 2000.
You are a team of volocanologists, scientists who study volcanoes, working for FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency. You’ve recently received a report that there have been volcanic rumblings near a major population center. Your job is to develop a report on the state of the emergency and make recommendations to local officials about how to prepare for the possible disaster and evacuation of the area. It’s About to Blow!
In
order to prepare your report and study the volcano up close, your team is
being sent to the location. You’ll need to study its past, in order to
determine the extent of the threat. You’ll also need to discover the type
of volcano, its characteristics, and the possible level of danger and
destruction. In addition, you’ll also need to investigate the surrounding
area, its geography, and population so that you can best make a
recommendation to the emergency response teams set up to deal with the
event. Your group of
three scientists will be responsible for: 1.
Researching
the history of the volcano, including past eruptions, type(s) of
eruptions, level of destruction, and state of activity/dormancy.
2.
Researching
the geology of the volcano, including its type and describing how this may
impact a current explosion. 3.
Researching
the geography of the area, including land/water forms, local cities, and
population. 4.
Sharing
your research with each other. 5.
Creating
a PowerPoint presentation to share your findings and recommendations for
evacuation with the FEMA agency and local officials. Whatever your
specialty, you’ll need to hurry! Time is of the essence! Even though some
people may believe volcanoes are on a schedule (see quote above!),
volcanoes have a mind of their own! Your volcano could blow at any
second! Before beginning,
you’ll need to do some background work on volcanoes. Your initial team
goal is to learn as much about volcanoes as possible together, before you
undertake your specialties. Please complete the following BEFORE beginning
your individual research. 1.
Read p. E 54 – 55 in
your science book and complete the “Semantic Feature Analysis” sheet (p.
1) in your Volcanologist Background Knowledge
Packet. 2.
Read the sheet Three
Kinds of Volcanoes (p.2). Use it and the posters in the room to name and
color-code the “Mystery Volcanoes” (pp. 3-5) in your
packet. 3.
Read the sheet “Why
Does A Volcano Erupt?” (pp. 6-7) and answer the accompanying sheet in your
Volcanologist Background Knowledge Packet (p.
8). 4.
Read the sheets
“Predicting Eruptions: (p. 9) and “What about Hawaii?” (p. 10) and answer
the three questions on the bottom of each sheet. 5.
Check your
Volcanologist Background Knowledge Packet answers with Mr. Weiler’s
answer key. 6.
Show your completed
packet to Mr. Weiler for approval. You may NOW begin your
individual specialty research! Volcano Emergency Preparedness Specialties
Lucky
for you, you’re not alone! In your group of three, you each have a
specialty within the field of volcanology! Are you a
historian-volcanologist? A geologist-volcanologist? Or a
geographer-volcanologist? Read the tasks below to find
out! In your group of three, assign one of the specialties below to each member of your team. Once you’ve been assigned a specialty, follow the directions for that specific role.
Historian-Volcanologist: A.
Your
role is to research the history of the volcano. The “thick question”
you’re attempting to answer: How can
the history of the volcano give us clues to what might
happen
today? B.
Use
the following “thin questions” to guide your
research: 1.
How
many times has the volcano erupted in the past?
When? 2.
How
did the volcanic eruption rate on FEMA’s Volcanic Eruption Scale? (You may
need to ESTIMATE this one based on your findings!) 3.
How
did these eruptions impact the surrounding area and people? What types of
destruction occurred? 4.
What
is the volcano’s recent level of activity? (Has it been dormant? For how
long?) C.
You
must use at least four websites in your research. Though you may visit any
and all of the sites suggested below, you are not limited to using ONLY
these sites. Feel free to conduct your own search!
http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/
http://www.fema.gov/kids/intense.htm
- volcanic
http://www.livescience.com/environment/volcano_overview.html
http://volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/volc_images.html
D.
Using
the information you find, write a brief (1 – 2 paragraphs) describing how
dangerous you feel your volcano is and why.
Geologist-Volcanologist
A.
Your
role is to research the history of the volcano. The “thick question”
you’re attempting to answer: How
might your volcano react in an eruption? B.
Use
the following “thin questions” to guide your
research: 1.
What
is the classification of your volcano? (What type of volcano is
it?) 2.
What
are the characteristics of this type of volcano? What type of eruption
might it be (strength)? Will we need to worry about lava? Gases? Ash?
Cinders? To what degree?
3.
What
are some signs to look for when a volcano is about to explode? (Make these
specific to your volcano, if you can!) C.
You
must use at least four websites in your research. Though you may visit any
and all of the sites suggested below, you are not limited to using ONLY
these sites. Feel free to conduct your own search!
http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/
http://volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/vwlessons/volcano_types/index.html
http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/About/What/Monitor/monitor.html
http://volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/volc_images.html
http://volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/frequent_questions/grp4/question740.html
http://volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/frequent_questions/grp3/question1104.html D.
Using
the information you find, write a brief (1 – 2 paragraphs) describing how
dangerous you feel your volcano is and why.
Geographer-Volcanologist:
A.
Your
role is to research the geography and population of the volcano. The
“thick question(s)” you’re attempting to answer: How
might the people and property near the volcano be affected during
an
eruption? B.
Use
the following “thin questions” to guide your
research: 1.
Where
is your volcano located? What country, territory, state, etc. (Be as
specific as you can! Include latitude and
longitude!) 2.
What
are the major landforms and waterforms surrounding the volcano? How might
these be impacted during and eruption? How might they impact the people
during an eruption? Where might it be safe to evacuate people to, if
necessary? 3.
What
are the major areas of population near the volcano? How many people live
there? (You may want to discuss if these cities/towns were ever previously
affected by a volcanic eruption with the Historian-Volcanologist)
4.
What
are the major occupations/economies of this area/region? How might these
be affected in a volcanic eruption? C.
You
must use at least four websites in your research. Though you may visit any
and all of the sites suggested below, you are not limited to using ONLY
these sites. Feel free to conduct your own search!
http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/
http://www.fema.gov/kids/intense.htm
- volcanic
http://www.livescience.com/environment/volcano_overview.html
http://volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/volc_images.html
D.
Using
the information you find, write a brief (1 – 2 paragraphs) describing how
dangerous you feel your volcano is and why. Developing Your Report
1.
Share your findings with your
group by discussing your notes and reading your paragraphs to each
other. 2.
Use your findings to develop
a group conclusion paragraph (or two) that addresses and answers the
following questions: Should the local population be evacuated? If so, how?
How many people may be affected? Where will you send them?
How? 3.
Using your individual
research and paragraph, group discussion and paragraph, and what you know
about the history, geology, and geography or your volcano, prepare a
multi-media (PowerPoint) presentation for the FEMA board of directors, and
local officials describing your findings, as well as your recommendations
on whether or not the local population should be evacuated. If you call
for evacuation, you’ll need to include a plan for
evacuation. 4.
For the first part of your
group presentation, each of you should create PART of the PowerPoint. Your
individual part needs to address and answer your thick and thin
questions. 5.
The second part of your
presentation should be your conclusions – your recommendation for
evacuation and plan based on the evidence you’ve found.
6.
After your presentation, on a
clean piece of paper, please complete a self-evaluation. Place a heading
on your paper, and answer the following questions: A. How did I use my
class time? Did I waste time or use my time
effectively?
B. How did my team
work together? Did we share information regarding web sites and other
information?
C. If I were to do this same project again, what would I do differently? 7.
Use the rubric below to
evaluate your performance. Report Criteria
The rubric below will evaluate the success of your research and mission. Your research will be graded individually. However, you will receive a group grade for the egg lander project.
Mission Accomplished!
Congratulations! You’ve saved the population surrounding your volcano. All is well. Thanks for a job well done! Credits & References
Photos
from:
Based on a template from The WebQuest Page | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Cooperation