Lesson Plan

Hulihia Kīlauea – a Complete Change
part 3, post-visit classroom activities and assessment

A map showing the Island of Hawai'i with colors indicating lava flow zones.
Grade Level:
Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade
Subject:
Literacy and Language Arts,Science,Social Studies
Lesson Duration:
90 Minutes
State Standards:
Hawaiʻi HĀ:

Strengthened Sense of Belonging
Strengthened Sense of Responsibility
Strengthened Sense of Aloha
Strengthened Sense of Hawai‘i
Additional Standards:
NGSS:

4-ESS2-2
4-ESS3-2
3-5-ETS1-1
3-5-ETS1-2
Thinking Skills:
Remembering: Recalling or recognizing information ideas, and principles. Understanding: Understand the main idea of material heard, viewed, or read. Interpret or summarize the ideas in own words. Applying: Apply an abstract idea in a concrete situation to solve a problem or relate it to a prior experience. Analyzing: Break down a concept or idea into parts and show the relationships among the parts. Creating: Bring together parts (elements, compounds) of knowledge to form a whole and build relationships for NEW situations. Evaluating: Make informed judgements about the value of ideas or materials. Use standards and criteria to support opinions and views.

Essential Question

Why is emergency planning important?

Objective

•Mitigate human risk to volcanic activity on Hawai‘i Island.
•Extrapolate from information on 2018 eruption to possible eruption of Mauna Loa.
•Use an analytical lens to learn about map readings and scientific predictions
•This activity combines information and experience to push students to identify possible solutions to posed issue and to meet the criteria and constraints of a project

Preparation

Gather Lava Zone Maps, Lava Zone Worksheet, Oral History Exercise, Resources and Organizations to Seek Help During a Natural Disaster

Materials

Students learn about the lava-flow hazards zones on the Island of Hawaiʻi.

Download Lava Zone Worksheet

Procedure

  1. Lava-Flow Hazard Zone Worksheet (30 min) – see uploaded material
  2. Oral History Interview (20 min)
Preparation: Review best-practices for conducting oral history projects with school-aged children. Suggested resource: https://edsitement.neh.gov/teachers-guides/oral-history-educational-experience  

Procedure: Discuss the reality that many individuals, even those we know, have been affected by disasters (natural or manmade). Through experiencing hardship or tragedy, people’s lives are often changed by the experience. Conduct an interview with a family member or friend who has experienced a disaster. Learn more about their experience and investigate how they were changed by the experience. Allow students to present their findings and summary in the next class meeting.
 
Suggested Interview Questions and Topics:
      1. Name, current age, community
      2. Name and date of experienced disaster
      3. Describe the disaster and your experience.
      4. Were you prepared for the disaster or was it by surprise?
      5. What did you learn from your experience?
      6. How could have you been more prepared for the experience?
      7. What do you do now to prepare for disasters?
      8. Who can you ask for help/where can you find help during a disaster?
Examples of disaster experiences include:
  • Natural disasters (hurricane, tsunami, tornado, earthquake, volcanic eruption, flood, extreme drought, wildfire, etc.)
  • Manmade disasters (structural fire/failure, electrical event, hazardous waste spill, oil spill, weaponry attack, transportation accident, terrorism, etc.)
 
  1. Resources in Emergencies (20 min)
Preparation: Prepared list of local, state, and national emergency resources; computer with internet access; map of local community

Procedure: With students, brainstorm the types of emergencies that could happen in your area. List the resources available in the local community that assist in disasters and other emergencies. Write resources out in categories, determining if they are local, state, or federally run.
Suggested Resources in for Hawaiʻi:
  • County of Hawai‘i Civil Defense
  • Hawai‘i Fire Department
  • Hawai‘i Police Department
  • American Red Cross
  • Hawaiian Volcano Observatory/USGS
  • FAA Air Traffic Control Tower
  • Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
  • Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DLNR)
Use a map of the local community, pin or mark the closest resources and shelters intended for emergencies. Does this seem adequate for your population?

Example of Community Resource and Response:
https://recovery.hawaiicounty.gov/progress/recovery-101


Other emergency preparedness resources:
https://www.nsc.org/home-safety/safety-topics/emergency-preparedness
https://www.ready.gov/
https://www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies.html
 

Assessment Materials

Cause and Effect graphic

Have students work in pairs to create a graphic that shows how 3 events during the 2018 eruption events on the Island of Hawai’i led to other events. Ask them to report their choices to the class, and to elaborate on why one event caused the other. For example, an ash plume caused the county to grow concerned about human health, which led them to make free dust masks available to residents.

Enrichment Activities

As an advanced extension of this exercise, students can write letters to their local officials or congress, expressing their concerns and desire for better emergency preparation. For students from the Island of Hawaiʻi - Using information gathered from Hulihia Kīlauea, part 1, and experiences from part 2, create a proposal to the Hawai‘i Island mayor on how to alleviate risk for individuals and structures on the slopes of Mauna Loa. 

Ensure students are considering the environmental, economic, and ethical aspects of living situations, cost of land and potential impact on undeveloped land when considering risk of current habitation and communities.

https://www.tolerance.org/classroom-resources/student-tasks/do-something/truth-to-power-writing-letters-for-change

Related Lessons or Education Materials

This lesson connects to Hulihia Kīlauea part 1 and part 2.


The Hulihia Kīlauea curriculum was developed by NPS Teacher-Ranger-Teacher Whitney Aragaki, a high school science teacher from Hilo; and Mosaics in Science intern MyLynn Phan, a junior at the University of California, Davis. Thank you to Ben Hayes and Bobby Camara for reviews and support.
 

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Last updated: September 14, 2019