Monitoring Volcanoes and Communicating Risks

Kaatje (van der Hoeven) Kraft (Whatcom Community College)
Rachel Teasdale (California State University-Chico)
Editor: Beth Pratt-Sitaula (EarthScope Consortium)

This material was developed and reviewed through the GETSI curricular materials development process. Final review and editing is pending. (view details)

This material was developed and reviewed through the GETSI curricular materials development process. This rigorous, structured process includes:

team-based development to ensure materials are appropriate across multiple educational settings.
multiple iterative reviews and feedback cycles through the course of material development with input to the authoring team from both project editors and an external assessment team.
real in-class or field camp/course testing of materials in multiple courses with external review of student assessment data.
multiple reviews to ensure the materials meet the GETSI materials rubric which codifies best practices in curricular development, student assessment and pedagogic techniques.
created or reviewed by content experts for accuracy of the science content.

Final review, editing, and approval by GETSI for this material is still pending.

Initial Publication Date: May 28, 2019

Summary

Volcanoes garner fascination and fear with students and the general population and thus are a natural engagement point. In this module, students examine real volcano monitoring data for three different styles of volcanoes—Hawai'i (shield volcano), Mount St. Helens (stratovolcano), and Yellowstone (caldera)—in order to better forecast volcanic eruptions and assess risks for surrounding communities. Data used include GPS, tiltmeters, seismic, and lidar. Students examine the data and propose what USGS alert levels (from Normal to Warning) they would assign to the volcano. The impact of volcanic activity on surrounding communities is also considered, along with ways that societal variables play a role in assessing risk for a given region.

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Webinar about teaching this module: Teaching about Volcanoes with Monitoring Data and Communicating Risk

Strengths of the Module

Variety of learning methods Learning approaches include gallery walk, jigsaw, think-pair-share, and other small group work to foster an actively engaged student population. All materials can be modified to be used in a range of classroom sizes from small to large.
Multiple data types Over the course of the module student use a variety of different types of data to determine hazard levels of volcanoes—GPS, tilt, lidar, InSAR, seismic. They experience how the complexity of volcanic behavior requires a suite of monitoring data in order to have an effective warning system.
Develop quantitative skills These activities involve developing quantitative analysis skills through authentic volcano monitoring and societal data (all units), graph and map interpretations (all units), and mean recurrence intervals (Units 3 and 4).
Real world applications There are elements of real-world and societal applications in which students are asked to consider how infrastructure would be impacted (Units 1 and 4), reactions to volcanic activity through the lens of Native populations (Unit 2), how to communicate risk to non-scientists (Units 3 and 4), and how poverty and corruption may impact risk to a region (Unit 4).
Terminology in context Overall, students learn about different volcano types and volcano terminology through experience with the societal impacts, rather than just memorizing facts. For instance, they learn the three different volcano types—stratovolcano (Unit 1), shield (Unit 2), and caldera-style (Unit 3)—through the lens of their respective eruptive products and hazards. This module also includes units with background readings and videos for students.
The content of these activities includes elements of