Curated OER
Merriam Webster: Visual Dictionary Online: Volcano During Eruption
Labeled diagram of a volcano during an eruption.
University of Wisconsin
The Why Files: Volcanic Activity
A resource to help understand how volcanoes work and how the can affect their surroundings.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Measuring Lava Flow
Students learn how volume, viscosity and slope are factors that affect the surface area that lava covers. Using clear transparency grids and liquid soap, students conduct experiments, make measurements and collect data. They also...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Hotspot Lesson: Mantle Plumes
A lesson plan that explains a theory on magma generation at hotspots called the mantle plume theory. The goal of this lesson plan is to introduce students to a theory that scientists are actively trying to prove or refute. Through this,...
National Association of Geoscience Teachers
Nagt: Where's the Volcanic Threat?
For this activity, students will explore the relationship between the silica content of magma and the potential for explosive volcanic activity, particularly in the Costa Rican area.
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Earth Science: Hot Springs and Geysers
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] How water heated by magma may emerge as a hot spring or geyser.
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Earth Science: Effusive Eruptions
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Effusive eruptions are relatively mild eruptions that produce lava flows.
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Earth Science: Effusive Eruptions
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Effusive eruptions are relatively mild eruptions that produce lava flows.
Scholastic
Scholastic: Study Jams! Science: Landforms, Rocks & Minerals: Earthquakes
A video and a short multiple-choice quiz on earthquakes, how they form, how they are measured, and the ways they can change the surface of the Earth.
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Earth Science: Explosive Eruptions
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Explosive eruptions cause widespread damage and are very dangerous.
Other
University of Delaware: Plate Tectonics
This site is a very simple overview of plate tectonics. It includes a map of all the major plates and a diagram of the layers of the earth.
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Volcanic Eruption
This animation shows the forces that help form stratovolcanoes.
PBS
Nova: Mystery of the Megavolcano
Learn about the 74,000 year old eruption of the Toba volcano which produced 670 cubic miles of magma. Compare its' dimensions to other famous eruptions to get an understanding of its enormous dimensions.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Volcanic Eruptions and Hazards
This interactive resource adapted from the National Park Service illustrates the difference between explosive and effusive volcanic eruptions, as well as the hazards that can result, including lahars, tsunamis, and lava flows.