Volcanoes: Teachers

Volcano Learning Material

Anatomy of a volcano. From NOVA.

Lightning in a volcano and other crazy volcano events.

Geysers are heated by volcanic activity too. Visit Yellowstone National Park's site for a great interactive about geysers. Yellowstone has a long history of volcanic activity; the site features a useful image detailing convection in the mantle.

Teachers will find great materials at NeoK12 including lots of online resources, videos and quizzes for your volcano unit.

Volcanic vocabulary can be an entirely new language. Do your best to keep up with this alphabetic glossary.

The highest volcano on Mars, Olympus Mons, is also the highest mountain in our solar system - 3 times higher than Mt. Everest. Learn more about Mars geology.

Volcano World is a great place to visit for additional knowledge, lesson plans and more.

Learn more about volcanic hazards.

Great Volcano Resources

Volcano diagram to label.

The Smithsonian Institute and USGS have produced a map-based resource called This Dynamic Planet that can be used for a variety of teaching activities with elementary and middle-school students. A teacher's guide is also available that includes a Pangaea puzzle lesson for 6th grade.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has a great site with multiple volcano resources for teachers. You will find details about volcanic science, videos and animations, current status on active volcanoes, maps, photos, lesson plans, webcams, and lots more.

NASA keeps tabs on volcanoes all around the earth. Visit this site to get updates on current volcanoes, animation for your instruction and lots more. Students may also enjoy learning about how NASA sends a robot into a volcano to explore.

Volcano Interactives

The best interactives on volcanoes -- you will want to explore these!! Show your class how rocks melt, how volcanoes erupt, plate tectonics and so much more – from Annenberg.

Volcanoes: Magma Rising is a great interactive for whole-class or individual use from the American Museum of Natural History.

Volcanologists visit Mt. Etna in this amazing video from National Geographic.

Great interactive of the layers of the earth.

Volcano Lesson Plans and More

Discovery Education offers detailed lesson plans on Understanding Volcanoes and Volcanoes and People.

Oregon State University has terrific teaching resources for educators. Check out the earth science lesson plans on plate tectonics and volcanoes.

The Cascades Volcano Observatory has multiple resources for teachers.

The Hawaiian Center for Volcanology has details on all of the volcanoes in the Hawaiian Islands.

Teachers will want to check out this expansive list of Volcano Teaching Resources, with lesson plans, hands-on activities, worksheets and printables for pre-school through high school.

Mount St. Helens eruption information.

PBS Learning Media has complete lesson plans on volcanoes that feature video clips, interactives, hands-on activities and maps. Designed for middle school students but can be easily adapted.

Check out these teacher resources that include amazing photos of volcanoes all over the world, with high-interest phenomena such as volcanic lightning, blue flame lava, and extra-terrestrial volcanoes. Classroom activities and lessons include Piles of Fire, Cake Batter Lava, and Gelatin Volcanoes.