Volcano Lessons from Parks

Explore how small amounts of water can mobilize loose rock to form lahars by making a small lahar within the safety of a beaker or jar and analyzing it using scientific methods.

Check out a Geology Traveling Trunk from Lava Beds National Monument!

Students are introduced to the study of geology. They will learn about what is hidden beneath the surface of the Earth and how the geology of the Earth gives shape to the landscape. They will learn about the theory of plate tectonics and how the movement of these plates affects the world around us.

Students prepare cookies the day before the activity. Students then compare and contrast different types of cookies and igneous rocks and classify them according to their structural make-up and ingredient composition.

Learn about different types of volcanoes and why the stratovolcanoes near Florissant Fossil Beds were highly explosive over 34 million years ago.

In this science lab, students learn about the properties of lava by experimenting with liquids having varying gas contents and viscosities.

Pāhoehoe lava rock is one of many rock formations made by volcanoes. Rocks can show us all kinds of information like types of volcanoes and kinds of lava flowed, where lava flowed and whether lava cooled down fast or slow. Geology rocks!

A view of the Bumpass Hell hydrothermal basin from the east.

This lesson explores the forces of weathering and erosion that shape our island home. It recounts volcanic creation, and then delves into the gradual destruction caused by the forces of wind, water, ice and waves.

Students will learn about the evolution of a volcanic island from origin to erosion. They will understand that Hawaiian volcanoes have gradually progressed through different stages as they are formed, emerge, and erode back into the sea from which they came.