Online Learning Activities
Volcanoes: A Weather Watch Activity
Scholastic’s “explosive” activities bring students face-to-face with volcanoes, sharing how they’re formed, why they erupt, and more.
- Grades: 3–5, 6–8
“Volcanoes,” part of Scholastic’s Weather Watch: Severe Weather and Natural Disasters series, offers students a comprehensive look at volcanoes through fun, compelling reading and interactive activities.
- The Basics: Students read an introduction on volcanoes, including how they’re created and why they explode.
- In-Depth: This three-page reading activity, with charts and images, covers the following topics…
- What causes a volcano to erupt?
- What happens at hot spots?
- How do volcanoes create rock?
- What are the different types of volcanoes?
- Experiments: Chocolate and marshmallows erupt during this edible student experiment that demonstrates the properties of lava!
- Witness Account: Students read the captivating story behind “the volcano that shook the world” — the 1883 volcanic eruption in the Indonesian island of Krakota.
- Words to Know: Students read an article on volcanoes while adding missing key words to complete sentences.
- Experts Say: Volcanologist Dr. Stanley Williams answers kids' questions in an interview with Scholastic, including what is the biggest volcano, the oldest, and how you can tell if a volcanic eruption might occur.
- Be Ready!: Students learn the warning signs that tip off scientists a volcano is ready to erupt, what to do if there’s a chance of an eruption near you, and what to do after one erupts.
- Explore the Ring of Fire: A map of the largest concentration of volcanoes located along a belt circling the Pacific Ocean.
Related Resources
These activities for students of various ages teach weather conditions through visual observation, collecting data, and analysis.
- Subjects:Earthquakes, Tsunamis, Volcanoes
- Skills:Research Skills
