June 26-July 9, 2014, Current Events Lesson Plan
Current Event: Three New Volcanoes Discovered in Australia
Researchers recently reported that three previously unknown volcanoes have been found in a region of Australia known as the Newer Volcanics Province (NVP). The NVP, in the state of South Australia, is home to approximately 400 somewhat unusual volcanoes. Nearly all of the world’s volcanoes form along the edges of tectonic plates. Occasionally, however, volcanoes appear above locations called hot spots that can be far from plate boundaries. The NVP volcanoes are of the hot-spot variety. One of the volcanoes, Cas Maar, is an especially unusual type of volcano; it formed when magma heated groundwater, instantly evaporating the water. The other two volcanoes, Burgers Hill and Jays Hill, are shield volcanoes. The last eruptions at this site occurred around 5,000 years ago, but the area is still considered active.
Objective:
A volcano is a place where ash, gases, and molten rock from deep underground erupt onto the surface. The word volcano also refers to the mountain of erupted rock and ash that often accumulates at such a place. Volcanic eruptions result when the magma (molten rock) beneath Earth’s surface rises in surrounding rock. As the magma accumulates, the pressure inside a region called a magma chamber increases. When the pressure becomes too great, the chamber breaks open, and magma rises in the volcano. If magma reaches the surface, an eruption occurs. During an eruption, a variety of materials can come from a volcanic vent. These include lava, rock fragments called pyroclasts, and gases. Volcanoes can create many dangers. Hot ash, gas, lava, and mud can bury or burn people and buildings. The most violent eruptions launch large clouds of ash and gas high into the atmosphere, causing problems far from the volcano itself. The Behind the Headlines news story and related World Book articles explore volcanoes and some famous volcanic eruptions.
Words to know:
Discussion Topics:
- Ask your students what they know about Australia. (They might say that Sydney is the largest city and Canberra is the national capital; Australia is the only country that is also a continent; Australia is famous for its kangaroos, koalas, platypuses, wombats, and other unusual animals; the Aboriginal people were the first humans to arrive in Australia.)
- Ask your students if they can name some famous volcanoes. (They might say Aconcagua, Krakatau, Mount Etna, Mount Saint Helens, Vesuvius.)
- An 1883 volcanic eruption at Krakatau killed about 36,000 people. Ask your students if they can name some people who were living when Krakatau erupted. (Students might say Clara Barton, Sir Edmund Barton, Alexander Graham Bell, Otto von Bismarck, Marie Curie, Frederick Douglass, Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Mohandas Gandhi, Geronimo, V. I. Lenin, Claude Monet, Florence Nightingale, Alfred Nobel, Louis Riel, Theodore Roosevelt, Harriet Tubman, Mark Twain, Vincent Van Gogh, Queen Victoria, Woodrow Wilson, Wilbur and Orville Wright.)
- Have your students debate the topic, “Due to the dangers that volcanoes cause, people who live close to volcanoes should be forced to move.”
- Throughout history, volcanic eruptions have killed many people. Ask your students to use World Book’s Timelines feature to view or add to the Major Disasters timeline.