Middle School Inquiry Lab on Volcanoes
In this lab students will create a model of one type of volcano, then share it with other groups. Groups will then do a gallery walk to share their models. Students will sketch each type of model and identify the parts of a volcano.
Each inquiry lab will contain an essential question that will drive the lesson and make students think. For this lesson, the essential question is:
- What are the four types of volcanoes, and how are they different?
BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND MATERIALS LIST:
Students will begin the lab by reading the essential question and background information. This can be done individually, as lab groups, or as a whole class. If you consider lab groups, you also might include some type of whole class formative checks before digging into the lab.
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Materials List:
- small paper plate
- model instruction card
- small paper cups
- model 1: sand
- model 2: thin ketchup
- model 3: thick ketchup
- model 4: ketchup, sand
PROCEDURE:
For this lab, you will assign which group will construct which volcano. Groups will receive a card indicating which volcano they will be creating and how to construct it. When all volcanoes are complete, students will do a gallery walk around the classroom observing all the other volcanoes. Students will need to sketch the remaining volcanoes on their lab sheet and identify each type of volcano.
CONCLUSION
Students will go back to the essential question and write a CER (Claim, Evidence, Reasoning) to conclude the lab. Once completed, students will reflect back on their learning by answering the following questions:
- How are all volcanoes similar?
- How could the steepness of a volcano affect how the lava flows from it?
- Between a shield volcano and a composite volcano, which would be the most dangerous in an eruption?
MODIFIED AND INDEPENDENT INQUIRY VERSIONS
All of the Kesler Science inquiry labs come with three different modification levels. Each lab is differentiated using the icons below.
