Constructive and Destructive Processes—Advanced Project
The Yellowstone Super Volcano
In this unit you are learning about constructive and destructive processes that shape the
Earth over time. But could a destructive process take out a large part of the United States?
Many people believe that the super volcano under Yellowstone National Park could blow with
catastrophic force. In this project you will learn about the geology of Yellowstone National Park
and communicate your results to others.
Research:
Get help from your teacher to watch the following video about the Yellowstone super
volcano.
o Yellowstone Crater: Super volcano
Go to the following websites to learn more about the geology of Yellowstone National
Park:
o http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/supervolcano/under/under.html
o http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/yellowstone/yellowstone_sub_page_55.html
As you learn about Yellowstone National Park, take notes that answer the following
questions. Make sure you look through all the information and provide adequate detail to
be able to teach others about what you learned.
o Where is Yellowstone National Park?
o Yellowstone National Park is on a “hot spot.” What is a hot spot?
o What is a “super volcano”?
o What is a caldera?
o When have past volcanic eruptions occurred at Yellowstone?
o What evidence are scientists looking at to determine if a huge eruption at
Yellowstone is likely to occur?
o What would be the effects of a huge eruption at Yellowstone? How might we be
affected in Grand Junction if this were to occur?
o How could the eruption of the Yellowstone super volcano be a destructive
process?
o How could the eruption of the Yellowstone super volcano be a constructive
process?
o Based on all that you read and saw, is a major volcanic eruption at Yellowstone
National Park something we should be afraid of?
Product:
Option #1—Create something (poster, presentation, video, etc.) to communicate to others
what you learned about the Yellowstone super volcano and the chances of it erupting.
Option #2—Write an argumentative paper that tries to convince people that we should be
preparing for the massive eruption of the Yellowstone super volcano.
Option #3—Write an argumentative paper that tries to convince people that the chances
of a catastrophic super volcano eruption are low and we should not be worried.
Option #4—Make a model to bring in to class to show what you learned about the
geology of Yellowstone National Park.
Option #5—Make a model to show how the geysers at Yellowstone National Park erupt
in predictable cycles:
o Model Instructions