This lesson plan is for Grade 6.
Goals
- Discussion and demonstration of the concept of plate tectonics and volcanism, using the Hawaiian Islands as an example of geology at work
Objectives
- Students will define “hot spot” as it relates to plate tectonics.
- Students will describe the origin of the Hawaiian archipelago.
- Students will research the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument and Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary to determine how their physical environments affect the biologic richness of the Hawaiian Islands.
- Students will describe the relationship between volcanoes and the biodiversity of the surrounding area.
- Students will determine whether plate tectonics plays a role in other region’s biodiversity.
Prerequisites
- Plate Tectonics (Harcourt pp238-245) – “How Earth’s Plates move” activity
Benchmarks (Hawaii)
- 6.1.2
- 6.2.1
- 6.2.2
- 6.6.1
Resources
- Ocean’s Alive Hawaii Hot Spot Lesson (http://www.oceanslive.org/portal/index.php?module=pagesetter&func=viewpub&tid=3&pid=24) – This lesson, available from its host site.
- Oceans Alive (http://www.oceanslive.org/portal/index.php?module=pagesetter&tid=1&filter=audience:eq:2&tpl=home-list&orderby=core.created:desc&pubcnt=3) – Video for Hawaiian Hot Spot and Plate Tectonics; explains fault lines, subduction zones, and volcanism.
Lesson Description
This lesson plan is available online and features a video introducing students to the concept of plate tectonics and hot spots – thin sections of the earth’s crust where red-hot magma reaches the surface and is cooled by ocean water to form new land. All of the islands in the Hawaiian archipelago were created from this hot spot, which is stationary while the oceanic plate slides past it in a northwesterly direction (like a conveyer belt moving under a nozzle dispensing cookie dough; the cookies are formed and carried on, creating a chain).
After the video, class discussions and internet searches allow students to explore the idea further.
The following is from OceansAlive.org:
Learning Procedure
Opening
Show students the Hawaiian Hot Spots video. As students watch, have them look for information explaining the difference between volcanoes caused by shifts in the Earth’s plates and those caused by “hot spots.” Have them also look and listen for information about how the Hawaiian Islands have been affected by the very way in which they were created (biodiversity).
After they have watched the video, ask the students to define “hot spot” (an exceptionally hot area where a plume of magma comes to the surface forming a volcano).
Development
Explain to the students that in order to fully understand hot spots and their effect on the environment, they need to further understand how volcanoes are formed.
Have students work in pairs to review how volcanoes develop by exploring National Geographic’s Forces of Nature NOAA Ocean Explorer: What is a Hotspot? Volcano World’s Hot Spot “Hotspots”: Mantle Thermal Plumes Submarine Ring of Fire.
As students work, have them answer the following questions:
- How many volcanoes are currently active in the world today? (About 1900)
- What is the “Ring of Fire?” (A region in the Pacific Ocean that is particularly active with volcanoes)
- How do volcanoes form? (They can form from one plate sliding under another and releasing magma at the rift; they can also form when magma shoots to the surface through a “hot spot” in the surface of a plate.)
- What are the five types of volcanoes? (Cinder cone, caldera, composite, shield, submarine, lava dome)
- What effect do plates have on volcanoes? (Most volcanoes are caused by shifting of plates and, therefore, are found where plates meet.)
- How are the Hawaiian volcanoes different than those in the “Ring of Fire?” (Hawaiian volcanoes are caused by “hot spots” rather than shifts in the Earth’s plates.)
- How do the volcanoes in Hawai`i contribute to the island’s land and biodiversity? (They provide valuable mineral deposits, fertile soils, and geothermal energy. Lava flows can build new land as they have in Hawai`i.)
Have students work in pairs to draw diagrams of how plate tectonics contribute to the development of a volcano. The diagrams may contain some of the following labels:
- Core
- Mantle
- Vent
- Lava flow
- Ash
- Branch Pipe
- Fissure
Then, have students examine maps and videos of the Hawaiian archipelago. Explain that the Hawaiian Islands are home to a volcanic “hot spot” and that it has greatly affected the biodiversity of the region.
Ask students to describe the Hawaiian Islands habitat based on the video, maps, and photographs they’ve examined. Explain that the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument contains thousands of species, including marine mammals, fish, sea turtles, birds, and invertebrates. Many are rare, threatened, or endangered. And, that at least one quarter are endemic, meaning they are found nowhere else on Earth. Explain, for example, that the Hawaiian monk seal is only found in the waters around the Hawaiian Islands. Visit the NOAA Hawaiian Monk Seal information page and the NOAA Fisheries’ Pinnipeds page for more information. Have students think about and discuss why certain species might only be found in this area.
With the whole class, generate a list of characteristics of the Hawaiian Islands environment. Then, ask them to try to determine what kind of plants or animals might flourish in that environment.
Then have students write the names of other organisms they would expect to find in this habitat on index cards. Then have them sort the cards by type of animal (mammals, birds, plants, etc.).
Next have them explore the range of wildlife in the Hawaiian Islands by visiting the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale Web pages. Assign groups of students each a different type of organism (mammals, fish, birds, plants, invertebrates, reptiles) to research and report back to the class.
Students should note:
- Where the organism is found.
- What relationship the organism has to others in the ecosystem.
- Whether the organism is endemic to this area, and why.
- Whether it is threatened or endangered.
- In what ways the Hawaiian Islands “hot spot” creates a perfect environment for this organism.
Then, have students write the name of, and describe, an environment different from the Hawaiian Islands on an index card. Then, shuffle the cards and hand one to each student. Explain that they will be writing a story about the organism they researched being moved to the environment they were given on the card.
Tell students to include the following in their stories:
- A detailed description of the new environment
- Hardships the organism encounters in the new environment
- Ways in which the new environment does not share the characteristics of the main Hawaiian Islands or the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
Closing
Have students explore these Web sites and describe how volcanic activity has affected the growth or decline of species currently or previously found in that geographic region.
- National Geographic Magazine: Once and Future Fury—Related Links
- Volcanoes in the North and Central American Region
- NOTE: Refer to website (Resource #1) or PDF for lesson plan, video, and live links.