Teacher's Guide for ODYSSEY ^TM Volcano: Mt. St. Helen's Blows Again

Format:
Article, Page
Summary
Skills

"It's Alive. . .Again!," pg. 6
The eruption of Mount St. Helens in October 2004 didn't take scientists by surprise. They've been studying the mountain carefully for more than 25 years. Oozing and spewing steam, ash, and molten rock, the volcano will continue to be active for decades.
Cause and Effect, Drawing Conclusions

"Monitoring the Mountain's Pulse," pg. 11
Advanced technologies such as radio telemetry, the Global Positioning System (GPS), Light Detection And Ranging (LIDAR), broadband seismometers, and the Forward Looking Infrared Radiometer (FLIR) help scientists monitor changes in Mount St. Helens and predict future eruptions.
Vocabulary, Applications

"The Big Blowup," pg. 14
The eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980, destroyed nearly every living thing within a 5-mile radius north of the volcano. A companion piece (pg. 18) offers an eyewitness account of the event. A sidebar (pg. 17) relates a Native American legend about the Cascade Mountains.
Cause and Effect, Observation

"Learning Under Pressure," pg. 19
Since its 1980 eruption, Mount St. Helens has been an active laboratory for the young science of volcanology. International cooperation has improved, providing knowledge and technologies that scientists worldwide can share. A sidebar (pg. 20) describes how volcanologists train and work.
Inductive Reasoning, Analysis

"Is It Gonna Blow?" (Activity to Discover), pg. 22
Playing the part of a volcanologist stationed near a potentially dangerous volcano, the reader who takes this quiz must make responsible decisions in crucial situations.
Assessing Evidence, Making Decisions

"Bucket of Lava" (Brain Strain), pg. 25
How can you determine if a bucket is half full without using any containers or measuring devices?
Inductive Reasoning, Drawing Conclusions

"Pyramid Rotation" (Brain Strain), pg. 23
Twist, turn, and flip them any way you want, but only four of these pyramids can exist together. Can you find the impostor?
Spatial Relations, Problem Solving

"Earth Lab: Watching Mount St. Helens Recover," pg. 26
For the past 25 years, scientists have been chronicling how plants and animals are rebuilding the ecosystem around Mount St. Helens. A sidebar (pg. 29) tells about the animal species that survived the eruption or returned to the area soon after.
Cause and Effect, Process Analysis

"Lupines: The Soil Enhancers," pg. 30
Pyroclastic flows from the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens created a vast plain of barren pumice. To the surprise of scientists, prairie lupines grew there within two years. The plants enriched the soil and encouraged animals to move into the Pumice Plain.
Adaptation, Cause and Effect

"Life on the Edge," pg. 32
Inside the still-steaming, post-eruption crater of Mount St. Helens, scientists found lakes and ponds filled with microbial life forms that flourish under extreme conditions. A sidebar (pg. 34) describes the practical uses of some Archaeans.
Classification, Applications

"KA-BOOM! Measuring Explosivity" and "An Explosive Experiment" (Activity to Discover), pg. 35
The Volcanic Explosivity Index, or VEI, is a logarithmic scale derived from the volume of tephra a volcano expels. Use plastic bottles, Alka-Seltzer tablets, and detergent to make and measure a model of a volcanic eruption.
Following Directions, Measurement

"Which One's Next?," pg. 38
The Cascade Range, which extends from Canada to northern California, includes a number of mountains that have erupted in the past-and may erupt again in the future.
Inductive Reasoning, Assessing Evidence

"An Unusual Solar Eclipse" (What's Up and You Can Do Astronomy), pg. 42
A rare annular/total eclipse of the sun will occur on April 8. Spot Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn in the evening sky. Look for Mars and Mercury before dawn. Use balls to model the relative sizes of the sun, moon, and Earth.
Observation, Following Directions

1. What have you read or heard about the 1980 and 2004 eruptions of Mount St. Helens? What questions do you have about the volcano? What other famous volcanic eruptions of the past can you name or describe?
2. Why are so many North American volcanoes located in the mountains along the west coast? How are volcanoes and earthquakes related?

Pg. 6 - "It's Alive . . . Again!"

• Talk It Over:
  1. What tools and instruments do scientists use to measure changes in Mount St. Helens? What kind of information does each tool provide?
  2. When eruption seemed imminent, thousands of people flocked to the site. Why do people want to witness dangerous and destructive events?
• Connections:
  1. Visual Arts: Divide a poster board into four sections. Create four diagrams or drawings, one for each section, to depict the main stages in the 2004 eruption at Mount St. Helens.
  2. Creative Writing: The author describes an orange cloud of steam and ash on Mount St. Helens as "a beautiful sight." Create a poem that captures both the power and the beauty of a volcanic eruption.
  3. Culinary Arts: Create a Mount St. Helens dessert. Write a recipe that includes ingredients and directions for making the dessert, along with a sketch or photograph of the finished product. Be ready to explain why your dessert deserves its name.
• Student Assessment:
  1. Describe in your own words how a lava dome forms in the crater of Mount St. Helens. Make sure that your steps are clear and in the proper order in this informational essay.
  2. Pretend that you were one of the thousands who came to Mount St. Helens in 2004 to witness "a spine-chilling event." Write a narrative of what you saw and your reaction to it.

Pg. 26 - "Earth Lab: Watching Mount St. Helens Recover"

• Talk It Over:
  1. How quickly has the ecosystem around Mount St. Helens recovered from the volcano's 1980 eruption? How long will it be before its former system will be completely reestablished? Do natural systems recover more quickly from natural disasters or from human-made ones? Why?
  2. How do species in ecosystems depend on each other? In addition to predator/prey, what other relationships can you identify?
• Connections:
  1. Graphic Arts: Review the stages of recovery described in the article and organize them into a "Time Line of Recovery and Regrowth." Identify flora and fauna and label key stages in your time line. Try to extend your time line with predictions of likely future trends.
  2. History: Select an ecological disaster (volcano, earthquake, flood, oil spill, nuclear explosion, tsunami, etc.) from history and research the ecological damage it did. Then find out how the affected area has fared since the disaster occurred. Display the results of your research on a poster or bulletin board.
  3. Creative Writing: Pretend that you are a disturbance ecologist studying Mount St. Helens in the year 2080, a century after its last major eruption. Write a journal entry describing what you find in this ecological disaster site and what you predict will happen in the next 100 years.
• Student Assessment:
  1. Write a brief essay to define the term adaptation. Use examples from the history of Mount St. Helens to support your definition.
  2. Present an award for scientific achievement not to a scientist, but to Mount St. Helens. In your presentation speech, give examples of how the mountain has promoted progress in the science of ecology.

Where is a Vulcan's heart located?

Small-Group or Paired Project: Select other famous volcanic eruptions from history. Assign one to each small group and have its members collaborate on an illustrated news article about the event. Display articles on a bulletin board titled "Volcanoes Make History."

How many moons orbit the planet Vulcan?

Community Connection: Check an area college or university for a geologist or ecologist who's knowledgeable about volcanoes. Invite the expert to class or arrange a telephone interview.

Vulcan blood is green because it is based on what element?

Whole-Class Display: On a large world map, insert pins and flags to mark the sites of active and recently dormant volcanoes. Find patterns and indicate how closely the patterns match the intersections of tectonic plates. Post your finished map where students in other classes can see it.

Where or what is Shakari?

Individual Project: Have each student use words from the magazine to construct a crossword puzzle. Make copies (with student names removed) and trade them for solving.

Answers:

1. A Vulcan's heart is located where you would find a human's liver.
2. None, although several large planets are visible in the Vulcan sky.
3. Copper
4. Shakari is the name of the planet that was the setting of the film Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.

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Updated: 11/21/09 10:54 am
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