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The Hawaiian Islands and the Hot Spot

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The Hawaiian Islands and the Hot Spot GRADE Author: P. Evans Lesson #: 6 ​ ​ 4 Unit Title: Hawaiʻi as an ESS Lab Time Frame: Two 50­Minute periods ​ ​ The Hawaiian Islands and the Hot Spot ABSTRACT Students will investigate how the Hawaiian archipelago formed in the middle of the Pacific Ocean more than 3,200 kilometers from the nearest tectonic plate boundary. They will explore evidence to support a theory to explain how Hawaiʻi was formed and how these islands have changed over time. They will see how this is a result of interaction within Earth’s spheres. Students will learn through discussions, view videos, and examine maps and photographs of the Hawaiian archipelago from United States Geologic Survey and NASA images to investigate evidence of interactions in the Hawaiian geosphere. PLANNING INSTRUCTION ASSESSMENT STANDARDS REFERENCES BACKGROUND INFORMATION FOR TEACHERS The Hawaiian Islands that we walk upon are the tops of huge volcanic mountains formed by eruptions of lava over millions of years. The volcanic peaks that rise above the ocean’s surface are small compared to the gigantic submerged Hawaiian Ridge, called the Emperor Seamount Chain, and made of more than eighty large volcanoes. The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago with eight major islands, several atolls, many smaller islets and many underwater seamounts that extend about 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaiʻi in the south to the Kure Atoll in the north. If nearly all of the world’s earthquakes and active volcanoes are located along or near tectonic plate boundaries, why are Hawaiian volcanoes found in the middle of the Pacific Plate? This is more than 2,000 miles from the nearest tectonic plate boundary! The linear shape of the Hawaiian Emperor Chain of Islands shows evidence that the Pacific Plate has been continuously moving over a deep and fixed “hot spot”. This “hot spot” partly melts the area just below the moving Pacific Plate, producing small areas of magma which come together and rise through weak zones and eventually erupt as lava onto the ocean floor to build volcanoes. The progressive northwesterly line of the islands from a “hot spot” is also supported by evidence from the ages of the lava flows on the various Hawaiian Islands. These range from the oldest in the northwest to the youngest in the southwest. The Main Hawaiian islands are thought to range from Kauaʻi being 5.1 million years old to Hawaiʻi being less than 0.7 million years old. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ © Bishop Museum, 2015. 1 The island of Hawaiʻi is the youngest island in the chain. It is also the most southeasterly island. It is thought that it is presently overlying the hot spot and still taps the magma source that feeds its active volcanoes. Off the island of Hawaiʻi’s southern coast is the active, submerged volcano we call Lōʻihi. It is also being fed from this magma and may eventually rise above the surface of the ocean and become our youngest island. Throughout these millions of years, opposing forces of creation and destruction have been at work on each island. Once an island rose above the ocean surface, elements from the atmosphere, the wind, rain, and waves began to wear and break it back down, slowly and over thousands of years. These islands are an ideal study of Earth systems science with their interesting origin by hot spot, their ever­changing land shaped by wind, water, and waves, and the interactions between the atmosphere, geosphere and the biosphere they support. PLANNING Essential Questions ● Where did the Hawaiian Islands come from and where are they going? ● How does geology relate to me on my island home? ● How can we study the origin of the Hawaiian islands when no one was here to record what happened? Instructional Objectives Students will: ● Research and explain the movement of the Pacific plate and what interactions occur along its boundaries. ● Compare and contrast Hawaiian volcanoes and other volcanoes in the Ring of Fire. ● Examine evidence of the “hot spot” theory and how Hawaiian Island chain demonstrates the movement of the Pacific plate. ● Share a self­selected assessment with peers to share a personal interpretation of their new understanding of the hot spot theory. Key Vocabulary ● Volcano ● Plate tectonics ● Hot spot ● Mantle ● Crust ● Magma ● Lava BACK TO TOP INSTRUCTION Materials For overall lesson: ● A dyed hardboiled egg, plastic knife and a paper plate for each pair of students ● Big red circle of construction paper for student demonstration of hot spot and island formation _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ © Bishop Museum, 2015. 2 Class set: ● “Hawaiʻi’s Timeline” ● Images: Active Volcanoes, Tectonic Plates, and the “Ring of Fire” ​ Preparation ● Gather images and print out “Hawaiʻi’s Timeline”, and Active Volcanoes, Tectonic Plates, and the ​ “Ring of Fire” ● Dye hard boiled eggs for Earth’s layers demonstration Resources NASA: ● Scientific Visual Studio, Volcanic activity over time: ​ ​ http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi­bin/details.cgi?aid=2908 Bishop Museum: ● Meet me at the Hotspot: ​ https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3ku8leUn4LfamJpN1FUNU9PajA/view BACK TO TOP ENGAGE 1. Have students explore a model of Earth’s layers using dyed hard­boiled eggs. Students will work in pairs or small groups with their own hard­boiled eggs. The teacher can facilitate student exploration through observation, discussion, and recording in their science notebooks with pictures and words. Note to the teacher: be aware of student allergies to eggs before beginning this lesson. Also, perhaps plan on having students eat the eggs after the activity to avoid food waste. ● Gently crack the egg’s shell, these pieces will represent the Earth’s plates on the crust. ● Take turns to manipulate the cracked shell gently to show what happens when plates interact, this will simulate mountain­building, volcanoes, and earthquakes. ● Peel away some of the crust and observe the next more slippery layer, showing the upper and lower mantle. The dye on the cracked shell may highlight the lines of the tectonic plates of the shell as students see the egg white mantle underneath. Have students carefully cut into the egg white and cut the hard­boiled egg in half. ● Each of them will now have a model to examine. Dye patterns may remain on the surface and show the edges of the plates. ● Students will find the yolk in the center of the egg, representing the Earth’s core. ● Have students wash their hands and return to tell about their discoveries in their science notebooks. Have students discuss their findings. 2. Guiding questions during this activity may include: ● What do you notice about the outer layer of the egg? ● When you cracked the egg, what did you notice? ● When you were moving the shell of the egg and having the pieces come together or separate apart, what did you see happening to the shell? ● How could these parts of the egg represent a model of our Earth? ● How is this activity is related to the images of the active volcanoes? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ © Bishop Museum, 2015. 3 3. Display this image and have students discuss in pairs or triad what they see and relate it to the demonstration. Have students record their understandings in the science notebooks along with creating pictorial representations of the earth’s layers. Image courtesy of NASA. EXPLORE 1. Show and discuss the following map: Image Courtesy of United States Geological Survey Explain that the red dots are all locations where active volcanoes are found. Have students generate questions or “I wonder” statements based on what they see in the map: ● How has the Earth’s surface changed over millions of years? ● Where are most volcanoes located? ● What is the Ring of Fire? Why? ● What happens along plate boundaries? 2. View Volcanic Activity Over Time. Have a whole group discussion on volcanic activity located near ​ ​ plate boundaries while referencing satellite images and maps. Ask students: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ © Bishop Museum, 2015. 4 ● Why are Hawaiian volcanoes thousands of kilometers from the nearest plate boundaries? Read the title and explain to students the various plate movements explained in the caption. Students can follow and model various plate movements with hand motions that represent how the plates interact. Pause the interactive and ask what students are noticing in this short clip: ● Where is most of the volcanic activity taking place? ● Where do you see some active volcanoes far away from the others? ● Why are they not clumped together with the others? 3. Display these images of Hawaiian volcanoes. Have students summarize what they have learned from examining tectonic plates and the Ring of Fire. They can explain why Hawaiʻi has an exceptional set of volcanoes. Image courtesy of G. Ulrich. Image courtesy of United States Geological Survey. EXPLAIN 1. Ask students how they could explain by demonstrating the idea of a hot spot in a tectonic plate somewhere on Earth. Encourage them to physically demonstrate the activity. In small groups, have students discuss how they might act out the formation of the islands using a big red dot of construction paper to symbolize the hot spot. Guide your students with following statements and questions: ● You can use yourselves as the islands ● What happens when you drift over the hot spot? ● Who is young and who is old? How can we tell? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ © Bishop Museum, 2015. 5 ● Be creative in your formation as an island, think about what forces are at play when the Pacific Plate moves over the “hot spot” and what happens to the island as it moves off the “hot spot”. 2. Now view Bishop Museum’s Meet me at the Hotspot. Pause during the video so that students may ​ ​ record key vocabulary words, questions about what they are viewing, or connections with what they notice in the video.
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