Thinking about Volcanoes

Mount St Helens Case Study

Context of the
lesson: Year 8
introductory lesson
on Mount St
Helens
Final piece of work:
Extended piece of
writing as a
volcanologist
Learning objectives
To use thinking maps to understand the
processes involved in the Mount St Helens
eruption
To create a case study of the eruption using
thinking maps to aid you
Mt St Helens is located on the Ring of Fire.
Mt St Helens eruption (May 1980)
Mt St Helens is located on a destructive plate boundary
where a continental plate (North American) meets an
oceanic plate (Juan de Fuca)
Mt St Helens causes of the eruption
Juan de Fuca plate
North American plate
Using your causes and effects map write down what the
causes of the Mount St Helens eruption were
A destructive plate boundary is found where a
continental plate meets an oceanic plate
The oceanic plate descends under the continental plate
because it is denser. As the plate descends it starts to
melt due to the friction caused by the movement between
the plates. This melted plate is now hot, liquid rock
(magma). The magma rises through the gaps in the
continental plate. If it reaches the surface, the liquid rock
forms a volcano
Why do they happen?
Causes of eruption write down on your map
N
0 10km
Mt St Helens consequences of the eruption
Write down
the effects of
the eruption
BEFORE
AFTER
Mt St Helens consequences of the eruption
Using the describing maps on
the sheet write down as many
adjectives as you can
concerning the eruption of
Mount St Helens
Remember to look at
the frame of reference
Before the
eruption


The eruption




Defining in context map
The map contains information about the
Mount St Helens eruption

Mount
St Helens
What happened
And finally
Rally-robin

One minute think
time

What have you
learned this lesson
about the eruption
of Mount St Helens?
Extended Writing
Using the thinking maps you have created this
lesson you will take on the role of a volcanologist
A volcanologist is someone who studies
volcanoes
As a volcanologist you have to produce a report
for the volcano society regarding what happened
to cause the eruption, what happened afterwards
and what it was like during the eruption
You may want to expand on what you include in
your report by including other appropriate thinking
maps
What having literacy/language
skills means

Ability to think and learn
Development of information
processing, reasoning, enquiry,
creative thinking, evaluation skills
Active participation in society,
economy and culture: empowerment

Literacy across the curriculum

Every subject needs
to focus on the
features of literacy
which are specific to
them

Different subjects,
different languages,
different literacies
Towed over the line?

A significant minority of pupils entering secondary
education on a Level 4 will be Level 4c
a few marks into the Level as determined by the
KS2 NC tests

Suggests therefore that there is a higher number of
Level 3 pupils than our data indicates
Learning traits of Level 3
pupils
Unable to remember previous learning
Fear of risk taking
Poor organisational skills
Poor conceptual grasp/ understanding of big ideas
Difficulty in explaining reasoning
Reluctance to self check
Easily distracted
Not good at listening, following instructions
Lacking in confidence and self esteem
Unfinished work
Lack of perseverance
DfES 2005: Moving pupils
from Level 3 to 5
Students will..
Struggle with subject specific
vocabulary/organisation of text/ complex
sentences

Be unable to use different reading strategies for
different reading purposes

Struggle with explaining and reasoning
Because of poor sentence construction, ideas
will come over as being very simple

Find it difficult to make inferences and deductions

Still be largely writing as they talk

How do thinking maps help?
Offer students a recognised structure thereby
improving
organisational skills
ability to follow instructions
less unfinished work
confidence and self esteem

By using and linking together maps, students
find it easier to
make inferences and reasoned deductions
articulate more complex or sustained thinking
Describing comparing/contrasting making a judgement