SCIENCE ACTIVITIES
Spark an Interest in STEM Today! Your child will likely need STEM skills in whatever career they choose. But you don’t have to wait to get them excited about science and technology . You can do it right now with these fun, easy-to-use science materials.
Inspire your child’s interest in science with hands-on fun!
Grades 1–6 5-Minute Science
Plan mind-blowing science experiments in just five minutes! These 50 learning-rich activities introduce new topics, review science concepts, and honor children’s innate desire to understand the world around them. Best of all, they only require easy- to-find, everyday materials. Includes: • 50 8" x 5" index cards • Sturdy storage unit $26.99 SC-833011 978-1-338-33011-3 Grades 1–3
Volcanoes
Read about new tools that help tell when an eruption may happen. Then try the science investigations. Volcano Trackers!
give some warning signs before they erupt. But in the past, these signs have been hard to measure. That’s because working near volcanoes is extremely dangerous, and scientists couldn’t get close enough. Now, new technology is helping scientists study volcanoes from far away. High- tech instruments placed near cracks in the earth’s crust can sense gases that could mean magma is moving underground. Before an eruption, the crust
can rise a little, like a balloon filling with air. Scientists have placed devices on rocks to detect these movements. They’re also measuring vibrations that pulse throughout the crust during earthquakes, which are often the first sign that a volcano is coming alive. Information from these sensors
BOOM! Lava bursts high in the air before flowing in hot-red rivers down the mountain. Hot ash shoots into the atmosphere, covering an entire continent like a giant cloud. Thousands of people flee their homes toward safety. When a volcano suddenly comes to life, watch out! Scientists want to learn how to tell when an eruption may be brewing. They hope to develop better warning systems so people can be prepared for the next big boom. Volcanoes do
Grades 1–3 SuperScience World of WOW Spark your child’s interest in science with these colorful activity books. Each book builds essential science knowledge and supports Next Generation Science Standards with colorful nonfiction articles and hands-on investigations from the editors of Scholastic Magazines+. 112 pages + stickers $8.99 SC-832985 978-1-338-32985-8 Grades 1–3
gives scientists a clearer picture of how volcanoes
behave. Over time, it may help them figure out which volcano could blow next.
Inside a Volcano
What gives a volcano its fiery force? Read these steps to find out. 1 Under the soil is a solid layer of rock called the crust . Under the crust is the mantle , a layer of hot, melted rock. The melted rock itself is called magma .
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2 In some places, magma rises from the mantle into the crust. It collects in a magma chamber . As more and more magma rises, the pressure builds. The pressure gets so high, the magma can crack the rock around it.
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3 The pressure pushes magma up through the central vent of a volcano.
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4 The volcano erupts! Once magma is outside the volcano, it’s called lava . The eruption may also include hot ash, rocks, and steam.
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ARCTIC OCEAN
North American Plate
Eurasian Plate
EARTH’S CRUST is broken into big pieces called tectonic plates . The red lines show the boundaries —the places where the plates touch. At some boundaries, conditions are just right for volcanoes to form.
EUROPE
NORTH AMERICA
Eurasian Plate
Juan de Fuca Plate
ASIA
Caribbean Plate
ASIA
Arabian Plate
ATLANTIC OCEAN
Philippine Plate
Paci c Plate
Indian Plate
Cocos Plate
AFRICA
EQUATOR
INDIAN OCEAN
SOUTH AMERICA
Investigation 1
PACIFIC OCEAN
African Plate
Nazca Plate
AUSTRALIA
South American Plate
Australian Plate
Major tectonic plate Key
SOUTHERN OCEAN
Antarctic Plate
Scotia Plate
ANTARCTICA
SOURCE: U.S. Geological Survey
Where do volcanoes form? Model how tectonic plates move to find out.
1. Do Steps 2–7 of the investigation. Model the three ways plates can move. Record your observations in the chart below.
Materials Ì plastic spoon Ì whipped cream Ì wax paper Ì half a graham cracker Ì recording sheet (next page)
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1. Gather the materials you will need.
Types of boundary
How much magma do you see between the crackers?
2. Put a heaping tablespoon of whipped cream on a sheet of wax paper. Use your spoon to spread the whipped cream into a square the size of a half graham cracker. This is a model of the earth’s mantle . The whipped cream is the melted rock, or magma . 3. Your half graham cracker is your solid rock crust . Carefully break the cracker along the line. 4. Place the two pieces next to each other on top of the whipped cream. Their broken edges should touch. Each piece is a tectonic plate . The place where the two broken pieces match up is a boundary . The plates don’t stay still. They move slowly. You will model three ways they can move. 5. Transform boundary: Slide the crackers past one another, like trains passing on opposite tracks. Can you feel them rubbing together? How much magma (whipped cream) do you see between them? 6. Divergent boundary: Carefully move the crackers back into place. Then slowly push the crackers away from one another. This creates a rift, a separation of plates. How much magma do you see between the crackers? Real magma would harden into new crust. 7. Convergent boundary: Put the crackers side by side again. Push them toward one another. Let one cracker slide underneath the other. How much magma do you see between the crackers? When Earth’s plates do this, the lower plate melts into the hot mantle. It becomes new magma. 8. Think: Volcanoes can form where magma rises through the crust. You just modeled three different ways that can happen at boundaries. Think about which ones brought magma close to the surface. Which kinds of boundaries seem best for making volcanoes?
Transform boundary
Divergent boundary
Convergent boundary
2. Think: Volcanoes can form where magma rises through the crust. Which kinds of boundaries brought magma close to the surface? Which kinds seem best for making volcanoes?
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2024 Home & Family Catalog 25
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