© Ron Dahlquist/Aurora Photos
Kilauea, on the island of Hawaii, may be the world’s most active volcano. As long as the history of this eruptive
peak has been documented, it’s been sending rivers of molten rock cascading across the landscape, and
spraying volcanic gas into the air. The most recent eruption was a months-long, but not severe, flow of lava
tubes this past spring and summer.
SUGGESTIONS
What impact does volcanic gas have on the environment and people?
Web Search
What exactly is volcanic gas?
Image
Search
Find an image that describes the process by which volcanic gas is
emitted from a volcano and enters the air.
Thinking
What are the parts of the process that seem to impact the
environment the most?
Web Search
Find at least one example of the environmental impact of volcanic
gas. What impact does volcanic gas have?
Bing for Schools Lesson Plan: 9-12
Web Search
What exactly is volcanic gas?
Possible response:
Volcanic gas is comprised by the substances emitted from a volcanic
eruption, including water vapor, carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide,
hydrogen, metal chlorides and carbon monoxide. Before an eruption the
gases are held within the molten rock of the mountain.
Suggested query:
Go to www.bing.com and enter a search phrase like "volcanic gas",
"volcanic gas definition" or "what is volcanic gas?".
ANSWERS & STRATEGIES
Image
Search
Find an image that describes the process by which volcanic gas is
emitted from a volcano and enters the air.
Possible response:
1. Stratosphere
2. Volcano, Hazards
3. Volcano Effects
Suggested query:
Go to www.bing.com/images and enter a search phrase like "volcanic gas
enters the air", "volcanic gas, effects on air" or "what happens when
volcanic gas enters the air?".
Thinking
What are the parts of the process that seem to impact the
environment?
Possible response:
This image conveys how hydrogen chloride and hydrogen fluoride fall to
the ground as acid rain. Acid rain probably impacts the environment, and
probably in a negative way, given the substances it contains, which are
harmful to wildlife and possibly vegetation.
Things to consider: What parts of the process do you recognize from
your own life, or maybe things you've read about?
Web Search
Find at least one example of the environmental impact of volcanic
gas. What impact does volcanic gas have?
Possible response:
Large eruptions cause the most damage to the environment globally.
These eruptions emit large amounts of sulfur dioxide, hydrogen fluoride
and carbon dioxide - the most dangerous substances to the earth. Sulfur
aerosols can contribute to the depletion of the ozone layer. While
hydrogen fluoride can be carried through acid rain and disrupt the
ecosystem. Carbon dioxide can collect in soil. One popular example of
this is the eruption of Mount Pinotubo in 1991, whose environmental
impact was investigated several times.
Suggested query:
Go to www.bing.com and enter a search phrase like "environmental
impact, volcanic gas" or "what are the environmental impacts of volcanic
gas?"
Bing for Schools Lesson Plan: 9-12
Thinking
How do you think the example you presented impacts the lives of
people?
Possible response:
Man-made pollution also destroy the ozone-layer, so if volcanic eruptions
can exacerbate the ongoing effects of pollution and other processes that
STANDARDS
Things to consider: Since global warming is effected by processes
impacting the air, how might volcanic gas influence global warming? What
are the impacts of global warming on people's lives?
Science &
Technical
Thinking
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.9-10.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and
technical texts, attending to the precise details of explanations or descriptions.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.9-10.2 Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text; trace the text’s
explanation or depiction of a complex process, phenomenon, or concept; provide an accurate
summary of the text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.9-10.4 Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other domainspecific words and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific or technical context relevant to
grades 9–10 texts and topics.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.9-10.5 Analyze the structure of the relationships among concepts in a text,
including relationships among key terms (e.g., force, friction, reaction force, energy).
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.9-10.7 Translate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in
a text into visual form (e.g., a table or chart) and translate information expressed visually or
mathematically (e.g., in an equation) into words.
Bing for Schools Lesson Plan: 9-12