Earthquakes & Volcanoes A Brite Star Science Copyright © 2023 by The Brite Star Foundation, Inc., a 501 (c)3 All rights reserved. Published by The Brite Star Foundation, Inc. 11411 Southern Highlands Parkway Suite 338 Las Vegas, Nevada 89141 Vincent W. Goett, Publisher ISBN Paperback
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Karen wasexcited to get to Brite Star School. She loved being withher friends. She loved her science teacher, Professor Stanley, too. Karen loved science – all kinds of science so she was excited to see a big poster of a volcano on the wall. Itwasa new science unit!
“Who wants to learn about volcanoes?” Professor Stanley asked. Everyone did! “You’re going to work in teamsto learn more. Youcan use the books I’ve put on the shelves. Read about volcanoes and makea list of all the things you learn on the poster board.”
Karen’s team got right to work reading about volcanoes. The list of facts they cameup withgot longer and longer. They couldn’t wait to share what they were learning withtheclass. Karen learned that volcanoes are usually by water, right on the shore of oceans or big lakes. The super hot liquid that flows from an erupting volcano is called magma. The map of the world showed that there are many, manyvolcanoes!
The next day Professor Stanley passed out supplies for the students to makemodel volcanoes. Each team had a bowl, 6 cups of flour, 2 cups of salt, 4 tablespoons of cooking oil and 2 cups of water . . . the ingredients to makeplay dough. They mixed the ingredients. Then they poured water in a bottle, added a little detergent and some orange food coloring and vinegar. Then they shaped a mountain from the play dough withthe water bottle in the middle. They left the top open to drop in a tissue and 1teaspoon of baking soda to makethe volcano erupt.
When everyone wasfinished building their models, Professor Stanley took videos of each team dropping in the baking soda to makethe volcano erupt. Each time a volcano erupted the entire class cheered. Karen thought it wasawesome to see the orange liquid oozing out of the volcanoes like lava. “Real magmais over 2,000 degrees hot!” Professor Stanley told the class. “It mustbe scary to see a real volcano erupting,” thought Karen. She remembered the story of the volcano in Pompeii that destroyed a whole city because the people couldn’t escape the hot magma.
“Professor Stanley, is there any way that people could be warned when a volcano is about to erupt?” Karen asked. “Yes,the can predict when a volcano is about to erupt by studying its history. Sometimes they can install instruments on a volcano that help tell them what’s happening inside it. They also look for earthquakes in the area and measure increased heat and gas escaping from the volcano. All those things help thempredict an eruption,” Professor Stanley said.
“There are a lot things in nature that are dangerous – earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis and big storms,” Karen said. “You’re right,” Professor Stanley said. “This is whyscience is important. What if we know people live near a fault line? That’s a place where there might be an earthquake because of the waythe earth is layered. How does it help to know that?” “Hmm,”Karen thought. “Time for more research!”
The next day the class had a special guest. “This is Ms. Belsick,” Professor Stanley said. “She is an engineer and her job is to make sure buildings are built in a waythat makes them safe in an earthquake.” “Earthquakes move buildings from side to side, not up and down. So, buildings need flexible foundations to allow for that movement,” Ms. Belsick explained. “We build withsteel instead of brick or cement because steel is more flexible and allows for the horizontal movement in an earthquake.”
Professor Stanley gave the students material to makemodels of buildings so they could see how flexible building material would help in anearthquake. Karen had pasta, straws, graham crackers, black licorice, tape and several other things to use. She liked the licorice because it wasvery flexible. When the students were finished withtheir buildings they tested them on a shake table. A good building needed to stay together for 15 seconds.
The students built bases for their houses, then cross beams, wallsand roofs. “I never thought about how muchwork goes into planning how to put a building together to makeit safe in an earthquake or storm,” she thought. Itwasinteresting to see which ones stayed together on the shake table. “Science and engineering are important to help people stay safe,” Karen thought.
Next, Professor Stanley showed the class a map that had fault lines and earthquakes marked on it. “Scientists can see the fault lines in the earth. They keep track of the patterns of earthquakes. That helps themfigure out what mayhappen next so they can warnpeople,” Professor Stanley explained. “Wow,” thought Karen. “It takes a lot of people doing a lot of work to be able to warnof earthquakes and volcano eruptions. Science is really important!”
Think About It 1. What is a volcano? 2. Where are volcanoes usually located? 3. What is an earthquake? 4. Do earthquakes move buildings up and down or side to side? 5. How cana building be made to be safe in an earthquake?
Let’s work together! Look up maps that show where volcanoes are located and whichones have recently erupted.
I will . . .
• Learn about earthquakes or volcanoes that maybe near me. • Learn about the work of engineers and scientists whohelp protect people from natural disasters by what they learn.
There are many kinds of natural disasters including earthquakes, big storms and volcanoes. Pay attention to weather forecasts and know howto be safe if a stormor other crisiscomesyour way.