Lesson Plan on Volcanoes

Teacher: Jill Faubert Subject: Social Studies
Grade Level: 4 Date: February 24, 1998

I. Content: Concept-Volcanoes consist of interrelated parts and upon eruption create new land areas.

II. Prerequisites: The students should know basic vocabulary words such as mountain, land, ocean, and islands.

III. Instructional Objective: Given a diagram of a volcano the student will label at least 3 of the following parts:  the magma chamber, vents, dome, and caldarea.

IV. Instructional Procedures: The lesson will began with the teacher asking the students what facts they already know about a volcano. After writing some of these facts on the board the teacher will then hand out a diagram of a already labeled volcano to the students. The teacher will then use either an overhead of the diagram or a drawing on the board of a volcano. Using colored chalk or markers the teacher will then go over each part of the volcano and teach the names of the different parts to the students.

Next the teacher will explain the benefits and dangers that volcanoes pose, such as creating new land areas that are very good for farming and the loss of property such as the loss suffered by the people in Montserrat. The teacher will then show pictures of volcanic eruptions, volcanic islands such as Hawaii, Montserrat, and Iceland. If a video of an eruption can be found it should be shown to the students.

The students will then break up into groups of four and design their own volcanoes using paper and drawing materials. The students will then label the drawings that they have made. The class will then vote on the volcano they like best, which the teacher will then draw on the board and show the students how that particular volcano would erupt using red chalk.

V. Materials and Equipment: The materials need for this lesson include colored chalk, transparencies, markers for the transparencies, a diagram of a volcano, crayons, paper, pictures of volcanoes, Hawaii, Montserraat (from National Geographic Vol. 192 July 1997), Iceland, lava flows, and buildings that have been engulfed in lava, and if possible a video on volcanoes.

VI. Assessment: The teacher will give the students a diagram of a volcano with blanks where the student must label correctly at least 3 parts of the volcano. Directions will tell the students to label all of the parts of the diagram to the best of their ability.

VII. Follow-up Activities: Students will be asked to write a story about a volcano and the island it forms. These student will then draw  pictures of their islands and both pictures and stories will be put on a bulletin board together.

VIII. Self Assessment: Will be from both the diagram the students will label and from questions asked of students during class. The lesson will be amended and revised based on how well the lesson was received be the students.

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