Source: Nature: "Violent Hawaii"
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The Hawaiian Islands were created by volcanic eruptions. Continuous eruptions mean the islands are constantly changing. In an effort to safeguard the residents and communities on these islands, scientists conduct regular tests on lava flow samples to help predict future eruptions. This is a dangerous undertaking, even for the most experienced scientists. This video segment from Nature shows scientists as they arrive at the site of a lava flow, prepare themselves with protective gear and get as close to the hot spots as possible in order to retrieve molten lava samples for testing.
Download and ShareThe following Frame, Focus and Follow-up suggestions are best suited for middle school students using this video in an English language arts or science lesson. Be sure to modify the questions to meet your students' instructional needs.
What is Frame, Focus and Follow-up?
Frame (ELA) What is a simile? What is a metaphor? Can you give an example of each?
Focus (ELA) While watching the video, think of people, things or events that could be compared to the details you observe in the segment about Mount Kilauea. For example, what can be compared to the landscape, temperature, the scientists in their protective gear, and the lava and how it flows?
Follow Up (ELA) Based on your comparisons, generate a specific setting that can be compared to the scientists capturing lava samples. For example, could you draw a comparison between the scientist’s investigations and the explorations of astronauts on another planet? What about cooks preparing meals in a kitchen?
Frame (SCI) What natural wonders created the Hawaiian Islands?
Focus (SCI) As you watch the video, determine why scientists test lava samples from Mount Kilauea. What information can the composition of the lava provide?
Follow Up (SCI) How can the information from the lava samples be used to safeguard the communities located near the volcano?
NARRATOR: Hawaii was born in fire…. Its islands spawned by volcanic eruptions. And in some places, the fires still burn. On the big island – the island named Hawaii – Kilauea spews forth molten rock, in a daily spectacle of creation. The volcano’s newest cone – Pu’u o’o – has erupted almost continuously since it first appeared in 1983. The steady flow of lava over two decades has added more than 500 acres to the island.
The landscape of Kilauea may seem alien and forbidding, but some find it irresistible. This may be the best place on the planet to observe a long term eruption at close range.
Scientists come often to the floor of Kilauea’s caldera, to take the pulse of the volcano. Here the ground itself is hot … and treacherous… in danger of giving way to the lava that flows beneath. Kilauea’s lava can move fast… at well over two thousand degrees Fahrenheit.
For geologists Carl Thornber and Tim Orr, today’s mission is a daunting one: retrieving samples from a fresh batch of molten lava.
CARL THORNBER: Looks like we got some hot stuff up ahead…
NARRATOR: They’ll quench their samples in a coffee can filled with water. Protective gear is minimal. They rely more on expertise honed by years of experience.
THORNBER: Ok. Let’s do it. …that’s a nice breakout from this tumuli… I think we should get it right at the top… ooh hot. Not a little hot, it’s really hot.
NARRATOR: The lava is surrounded by a scorching shroud of superheated air.
Color and brightness are good indicators of temperature… but the heat reveals itself in other ways.
THORNBER: That’s hot enough to burn the hair off the top of your eyebrows. … and you certainly kinda get red cheeks after that… that was a hot one.
Temperature’s about 1150 degrees C… that’s what? … 2100 F. That’s a lot hotter than you can get your kitchen oven, that’s for sure. And it’s hot, the air’s hot. The air’s over 600 degrees going into there, so you’re walking into an oven. …hard to get good samples… but when you need ‘em, you get ‘em. We always get our samples, don’t we, Tim?
NARRATOR: The composition of the lava can tell them how and where it was formed.
THORNBER: Come on, quench. Alright…you got the time?
TIM ORR: It is 14:06.
NARRATOR: It can also help in forecasting changes in the eruption.
NARRATOR: Tiny fragments of lava reveal Kilauea’s deepest secrets.
THORNBER: We try to get a sample as close to the vent every week… as close to the vent as we can get. So we get a feel for the long-term changes. Whether the eruption’s gonna stop or continue, so we get a much better handle on what’s gonna happen next.
NARRATOR: Figuring out Kilauea’s next moves isn’t easy. The volcano is always changing… and seemingly inexhaustible.
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