Curated OER
Hawaiian Hot Spots
Students discuss how plate tectonics and volcanic activity have affected Hawaii. In this Hawaiian lesson, students look at maps and photographs of Hawaiian Islands and discuss their formation through multiple volcanic eruptions. They...
Curated OER
Hawaiian Hot Spots
Students describe how plate tectonics contribute to the development of volcanoes. In this earth science lesson, students examine the map of Hawaii and explore the physical and biological environment there. They write a story about an...
Curated OER
Island Formation
Students create models of how islands are formed by hot spots and then write a summary of their observations and of how they think their model relates to volcanic hot spots and island formation.
Curated OER
Life of an Island: From Mountain to Atoll
Students research the evolution of a volcanic island from origin to erosion. They determine the relative ages of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands given their position in the archipelago.
Curated OER
Island formation
Students explain what an island is, and distinguish islands from similar landforms. They compare and contrast the different ways in which islands are formed.
Curated OER
How Volcanoes Grow
Pupils study volcanoes including rock fragments, ash, aerosols and gases. In this volcano lesson students divide into groups and build models of the three major types of volcanoes.
Curated OER
Life of An Island
Young scholars identify the steps in the life cycle of an island. They label islands in the correct stage of their life cycle and illustrate the process themselves. They also review the concept of plate tectonics.
Curated OER
Reading the Shapes of Volcanoes on Earth and Mars
Students compare and contrast the volcanoes of Earth and Mars, and examine specific volcanoes on Mars. They model the processes that create cone and shield volcanoes, and measure the slope angles of cone and shield volcanoes.
![Usra: Lunar and Planetary Institute: Hot Spot Activity [Pdf] Lesson Plan](https://d15y2dacu3jp90.cloudfront.net/images/attachment_defaults/resource/large/FPO-knovation.png "Usra: Lunar and Planetary Institute: Hot Spot Activity [Pdf] Lesson Plan")
Other
Usra: Lunar and Planetary Institute: Hot Spot Activity [Pdf]
For this lesson, students will measure the distances between Hawaiian islands, and convert and graph their data to determine the speed of the Pacific Plate.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Hotspot Lesson: Hotspot Theory and Plate Velocities
Students use a data set of ages of Hawaiian Volcanoes and seamounts and how far they are from the active volcanism, and then plot the data on a graph, and finally determine the plate velocity.