Ka-Boom! Measuring volcanic explosivity.

Christopher Roemmele, Purdue University-Main Campus
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Summary

Using a combination of water, effervescent antacid tablets, dishwashing liquid and simple materials, students model volcanic eruptions to measure the intensity of explosivity and develop their own scale.

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Context

Audience

Introductory geology courses for non-majors, and secondary/middle earth science classes.

Skills and concepts that students must have mastered

volcanoes, eruption types (explosive, non explosive), magma, viscosity, gas content, silica, tephra, Volcano Explosivity Index (VEI)
measurement, logarithmic/exponential scales

How the activity is situated in the course

This can be done near the end of a unit on volcanoes, culminating lab activity, with lab report.

Goals

Content/concepts goals for this activity

Exposure to the VEI - Volcano Explosivity Index, logarithmic scales and historic eruptions

Higher order thinking skills goals for this activity

forming hypotheses, data collection and analysis, developing models, synthesizing and utilizing scales

Other skills goals for this activity

collaborative group work and coordination, writing a "formal" lab report

Description and Teaching Materials

This lab activity is described in the Fall 2016 issue of Science in School
http://www.scienceinschool.org/content/measuring-explosiveness-volcanic-eruption
KaBoom! Measuring the Explosivity of a Volcanic Eruption (Microsoft Word 51kB May31 17)



Teaching Notes and Tips

This lab activity is described in the Fall 2016 issue of Science in School
http://www.scienceinschool.org/content/measuring-explosiveness-volcanic-eruption

Assessment

Completion and submission of a lab report

References and Resources