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I have discussed this in my eighth grade classes, after introducing geological timelines and risk. Students are aware of storm and earthquake events, yet think of volcanos as very localized activities. The idea of a supervolcano in the US, and how it affected, and continues to affect, landforms, is fascinating to them. I do bring up the worldwide effects of Mt. St Helens and Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland, which were much smaller yet caused worldwide disruption. I think it would be more difficult to bring up in earlier grade levels.
I just came across this new study in addition to the one tht was mentioned on NPR - this one relates to what triggers a super volcano. http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/news/science-environment-25598050
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Between super volcanoes, asteroids, and other hazards in the environment, how do we teach these concepts to children without scaring them to death??? This thought came to me as I read about Yellowstone. What are your thoughts?
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A lot depends on age level.
I would think that we would refrain from exposing children to the less like;y (and more devastating) natural hazards like super volcanoes and large asteroid impacts. Knowing that there are hazards - some more common and relevant than others - should be enough for most of our students. Some areas would stress certain hazards more than others - tsunamis for coastal communities, for example. Or the hazards of severe wind chill - like what we have right now here in Michigan - for the mid-continent region.
Context is also important. If we are discussing the effect of natural events on climate, then past super-eruptions could be fair game. If students bring up concerns about Yellowstone erupting today, then you could get into a discussion of recurrence possibilities ( at the older grades)
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I was at Mt. St. Helens this summer, and it was an incredible experience. The state and federal parks each have great interpretive centers, and while they did discuss the loss of life, they also discussed how the observations made during the eruption have helped us understand how to predict changes in the Earth that may cause earthquakes and eruptions. Looking at what they knew in the days and weeks before the eruption, it seems incredible to me that people didn't run as fast and far as possible! But I have the benefit of hindsight!
A few summers ago, when in Yellowstone, someone asked about the frequent predictions from lay "predictors" that an eruption was predicted. The response from the guide? "If there was about to be an eruption, this place would be overrun with geologists and other scientists, hoping to collect data and experience the event!" Perhaps this speaks to our curiosity and our willingness to experience danger for the experience of it all. I know the potential of an eruption of an active volcano did not deter me from hiking out as close as I could to the volcano.
Kids need to learn to take calculated risks. Driving a car is much more dangerous, and we encourage that. We just need to put it into perspective!
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We just studied Volcanoes in 8th grade science and several of my students did their project on the Yellowstone supervolcano and hot spot. They did an amazing job discussing the current activity, size of the caldera, hot spot and evidence from past eruptions.
The recent disaster movie '2012' had simulations of a Yellowstone eruption, so students could discuss how the movie depicts the danger vs. what may actually occur in an eruption.
Some resources in the NSTA Learning Center on Yellowstone:
Hot Spot at Yellowstone (Science Scope, MS)
http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/4/ss05_028_07_38
Science Sampler: Beyond Yellowstone (Science Scope, MS). Virtual field trip information for Yellowstone geology, wildlife and plants from Yellowstone National Parks Education http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/4/ss07_030_08_48
Dorothy
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