Download a full PDF file of all 13 Volcano lesson plans, teachers notes and activity here:
Lesson 1. Volcanoes: What is a volcano and where are New Zealand’s volcanoes?
- features of the Earth’s surface; location, appearance and structure of NZ’s volcanoes
Lesson 2. Inside the Earth: What’s inside the Earth?
- the internal layers of the Earth and the properties of the crust, mantle and core
Lesson 3. The Crust: How does the crust move?
- crustal (tectonic) plates and how they interact as they move
Lesson 4. Moving Plates: What pushes the plates along?
- convection currents
Lesson 5. Creating and Destroying Plates: What happens when plates move?
- modelling interactions between plates; converging and diverging plate boundaries
Lesson 6. New Zealand’s Plates: What’s happening with New Zealand’s plates?
- modelling NZ’s position on a plate boundary, linking subduction to volcanism
Lesson 7. Magma: Why don’t all volcanoes look and act the same?
- linking volcano structure and behaviour to magma composition, effects of viscosity and gas on the explosiveness of magma
Lesson 8. Eruption Products: What can volcanoes produce?
- the eruptive products of different NZ volcanoes and how they relate to different magmas
Lesson 9. Making a Volcano: How can we make a volcano and use it to educate others?
- gather information from Volcano Fact Sheets and other sources
- create a model of a NZ volcano, erupt it and present information to peers
Lesson 10. New Zealand Eruptions: What has happened in New Zealand’s recent eruptions?
- the impact of 3 NZ eruptions (Taupo, Tarawera and Ruapehu) on people and the environment
Lesson 11. Monitoring Volcanoes: How and why are volcanoes monitored?
- the warning signs of volcanic unrest and how they are measured
Lesson 12. Preparing for Eruptions: What will happen in future eruptions and how can we be prepared?
- likely scenarios; the roles of individuals, scientists and Civil Defence in preparing and coping
Lesson 13. Benefits of Volcanoes: What benefits do volcanoes bring to New Zealand?
- economic and environmental advantages of volcanism and geothermal fields