Domain-Specific Vocabulary
“The Volcano That Changed the World”
September 2014
Name: __________________________________ Date: _____________
Vocabulary Eruption
I. BEFORE READING: In the article “The Volcano That Changed the World,”
you will find a number of words having to do with volcanoes and their effects.
As you come across words in bold, ask yourself if you know them or
if you can figure them out from context. Then check their meanings here.
1. climate: “Little was known about climate or volcanoes.” (p. 8)
Meaning: the usual weather in a place
2. dissipate: “Most volcanic clouds quickly dissipate—break apart and fade away.” (p. 8)
Meaning: to separate into parts and scatter or vanish
3. dormant: “Like many volcanoes, Tambora looked like an ordinary mountain and had been dormant—
quiet—for centuries.” (p. 7)
Meaning: inactive; used to describe a volcano: not active at the moment, but capable of erupting again
4. droughts: “There were droughts and floods in India and killing frosts across northern China.” (p. 6)
Meaning: long spells of very dry weather
5. m
igrations: “It was one of the biggest migrations in U.S. history.” (p. 9)
Meaning: long journeys to a new home in another country or region
6. plumes: “The first eruption shook the island and sent up great plumes of fire and ash.” (p. 7)
Meaning: feathers, or things that have fluffy, feathery shapes
7. pyroclastic surge: “This pyroclastic surge devastated everything in its path.” (p. 7)
Meaning: a quickly flowing mixture of gas and hot pieces of rock that come out of a volcano during a
violent eruption
8. stratosphere: “But in a very powerful eruption, the cloud rises so high that it mixes with water and
other gases in the stratosphere.” (p. 8)
Meaning: an upper portion of the sky where clouds rarely form and the air is cold and thin
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Domain-Specific Vocabulary
“The Volcano That Changed the World”
September 2014
Name: __________________________________ Date: _____________
Vocabulary Eruption, p. 2
II. AFTER READING: Now that you have read these vocabulary words in context,
check your understanding by using them to answer the questions below.
Directions: Use the correct term from the word box to answer each question below.
WORD BOX
climate
dissipates
dormant
drought
migrations
plumes
pyroclastic surge
stratosphere
1. What do you call a long period with little or no rain? ____________________________________
2. Mount Fuji has not erupted for 306 years. Which word could you use to describe the volcano?
____________________________________
3. What word might describe a group of feathers decorating a hat? ____________________________________
4. As astronauts blast off into space, they go through the upper layer of sky, where the air is thin and cold.
What is this layer called? ____________________________________
5. Monarch butterflies and humpback whales travel hundreds of miles every year from one area to another.
What word describes their journeys? ____________________________________
6. One of the most dangerous parts of a volcanic eruption is not the lava, but the wave of gas and hot rock that
bursts from the volcano. What is that wave called? ____________________________________
7. If you are describing what the weather is generally like someplace, you are talking about
its ____________________________________ .
8. After a fire, the smoke eventually breaks up and disappears. In other words,
it ____________________________________ .
© 2014 Scholastic Inc. Teachers may make copies of this page to distribute to their students.