Each two+ minute Web Short video (available for viewing below) highlights the work of a volcano scientist. Use Web Shorts in your classroom, along with accompanying Discovery Questions to stimulate student thinking.
These are questions to be discussed by teachers and students after watching each Web Short interview.
What area or hazard is the scientist addressing?
What methods or processes are used to collect evidence/data?
How is the evidence or data analyzed and interpreted?
What are the difficulties encountered?
What challenges are overcome?
What is the most interesting/important thing discovered?
How does the scientist share knowledge with others?
How is this information used by society?
Why is it important to study and understanding this?
(duration 2:27 minutes) – Photogrammetry is the science of making precise measurements by the use of photography.
USGS geologist Angie Diefenbach describes how she uses a digital camera and computer software to understand the growth
rate of lavadomes during a volcanic eruption.
#2 Debris Flows (duration 3:34 minutes) – Debris flows are hazardous flows of rock, sediment and water that surge down mountain slopes and into adjacent valleys. Hydrologist Richard Iverson describes the nature of debris-flow research and explains how debris flow experiments are conducted at the USGS Debris Flow Flume, west of Eugene, Oregon. Spectacular debris flow footage, recorded by Franck Lavigne of the Universite Paris, makes clear the destructive power of these flows.
#3 Seismology (duration 2:30 minutes) – USGS volcano seismologist, Seth Moran, describes how seismology and seismic networks are used to mitigate volcanic hazards.
#4 Instrument Development (duration 3:20 minutes) – USGS technologist Rick LaHusen describes how the development and deployment of instruments plays a crucial role in mitigating volcanic hazards.
#5 Volcano Ash Impacts (duration 2:35 minutes) – USGS geologist Larry Mastin describes how volcanic ash can disrupt lives many thousands of miles from an erupting volcano. The development of ash cloud models and ash cloud disruption to air traffic is highlighted.
#6 Societal Impacts of Volcanism (duration 2:04 minutes) – USGS geologist, Angie Diefenbach, describes how she uses GIS, (Geographic Information Systems) software to study volcanic eruptions and their impacts on society.