Hawaii is home to many active volcanoes.
Volcanoes are an exciting part of physical science in nearly all grades of school. If you are teaching a unit on volcanoes, accompany it with a bulletin board to inspire your learners from the moment they walk into your classroom. Volcano bulletin boards can impart additional information to supplement your teaching or be an interactive part of your lessons with students contributing to it as they learn.
Tracking Map
Create a bulletin board that students can interact with throughout the unit on volcanoes. Start with a large map of the world. Have students research where there are active volcanoes and mark them on the map with push pins. Throughout the unit, have students track volcanic action. Whenever there is an eruption or a change, have them fill out an index card and attach it to the bulletin board with the pin. The card should include the name of the volcano, the date, and what happened.
Volcano Types
Display pictures of the three different kinds of volcanoes: Shield, cinder and composite. On each type of volcano, print important facts about it such as type of lava, type of eruption, locations this type can be found, and its size and slope. Assign all students a different volcano and have them determine classify that volcano. Have them write the basic details about their volcano on a sticky note and put it on the correct volcano on the bulletin board.
Volcano Survival Plan
If your school is near a volcano, consider creating a bulletin board that stresses proper disaster response to an erupting volcano. Have one section of the bulletin board show pictures of previous eruptions of volcanoes in your area or display a timeline of volcanic eruptions. Then have sections on what to do before, during and after a volcanic eruption. For information on what to do, check out FEMA's instructions on volcano response (see Resources).
Timeline of a Disaster
Pick a particular volcanic eruption that affected populated areas. Potential choices include the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883, the eruption of Mount Tambora in 1815, Mount Vesuvius in 79, or Santorini in 1650 B.C. Show a picture of the volcano and then display a timeline of major events in those eruptions. As an accompanying activity, have students create logbooks as if they were volcanologists studying the eruption.
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