Subject Area(s): Earth Science, Physical Science

Associated Unit: none        

Associated Lesson:  How Far Does A Lava Flow Go?       

Activity Title:  How Far Does a Lava Flow Go: the effects of volume, viscosity, and slope on surface area of liquids.

 

 

This is an image of lava channels during the eruptions of Pu'u O'o Volcano, Hawaii. The central channel shown here is approximately 4 meters (13 feet) wide. 
S. Rowland/LPI

 

Grade Level: 9 (6-9)

Activity Dependency: none

Time Required: 50 minutes

Group Size: 6

Expendable Cost per Group US $1.00

 

Summary

Students learn how volume, viscosity, and slope affect the surface area that lava covers.  Students also brainstorm solutions to lava flow problems, and will understand how the properties of lava are applicable to other liquids. 

 

Engineering Connection

This activity is relevant to the field of chemical and civil engineering.  Through their experiments, students will understand how the volume, viscosity, and slope of the substrate affect the surface area that a liquid covers.

Engineering Category

(1)

 

Level of Inquiry

This activity asks students to form hypotheses on how the factors of volume, slope, and viscosity will affect the surface area that a liquid covers and then test them through experimentation.  The activity then asks students to “become” geochemical engineers and think up ways to slow down, divert, or halt lava flows. In discussion afterward, they will to connect what they how the properties of liquids they learned about are applicable to other real-life scenarios.

 

Keywords:  flow, fluid, lava, liquid, movement, slope, surface area, viscosity, volume

 

Educational Standards

·       State science:

California Earth Science (1998), grades 9-12

Dynamic Earth Processes:

e. Students know there are two kinds of volcanoes: one kind with violent eruptions producing steep slopes and the other kind with voluminous lava flows producing gentle slopes.

California Investigation & Experimentation (1998), grades 9-12

1a. Select and use appropriate tools and technology (such as computer-linked probes, spreadsheets, and graphing calculators) to perform tests, collect data, analyze relationships, and display data.

 

·       State math: 

California Measurement and Geometry (1997), grades 9-12

2.1 Use formulas routinely for finding the perimeter and area of basic two-dimensional figures and the surface area and volume of basic three-dimensional figures, including rectangles, parallelograms, trapezoids, squares, triangles, circles, prisms, and cylinders.                                                                                2.2 Estimate and compute the area of more complex or irregular two- and three-dimensional figures by breaking the figures down into more basic geometric objects.

 

Pre-Requisite Knowledge

Pre-requisite knowledge includes a mathematical understanding surface area and volume, as well as the definitions of viscosity, and slope.  Background knowledge in lava flows and volcanoes (see associated lesson).

 

Learning Objectives

After this activity, students should be able to:

·      Understand and describe how volume, viscosity, and slope affect the surface area that a fluid covers.

 

Materials List

Each group needs:

·      3 transparencies with a grid of 1cm2 boxes printed on it, 1 graduated cylinder  (at least 10 ml)

·      For the 3 group types:

Group 1:    18 ml soap, small cup

Group 2:     8 ml soap, 1 T salt, 5 ml water, 3 small cups

Group 3:     9 ml soap, 1 pencil, 1 small circular wooden dowel, small cup

 

Introduction / Motivation

See associated lesson

Vocabulary / Definitions

 

Word

Definition

surface area

the extent of a 2-dimensional surface enclosed within a boundary

viscosity

a liquid’s resistance to flow

slope

steepness, incline

 

Procedure

 

Background

The teacher should know about volcanoes and lava flows, as this is what this activity is simulating.  The teacher is encouraged to use this activity in conjunction with the associated lesson plan: How far does a lava flow go?  Surface area in this activity is determined by counting the number of boxes that the soap covers.  Partial boxes should be added together to make wholes.

Before the Activity

·      Make copies of instruction handout for students

·       Xerox copy 1 cm2 graph paper (attachment) onto transparencies

·      Put soap into containers or squeeze bottles for students to use, gather materials for each group together (putting materials for each group in a plastic tub together will keep everything well organized)

With the Students

1.   Demonstrate how to count boxes to determine surface area by placing a transparency (with the 1 cm2 graph printed on it) on an overhead projector and pouring a small amount of soap on it.

2.   Divide students into at least 3 groups (suggested 6 students/ group).

3.   Ask each group what aspect they want to experiment with  (volume, viscosity, or slope).  There should be at least one group testing each.   If there are more than 3 groups, multiple groups can do the same experiment.  Give students instruction handout (attachment) and tell them to follow the directions for their groups assigned experiment.  Each group should write a hypothesis about how either volume, viscosity, or slope will affect the surface area the liquid covers. Tell students to make a data table and record their data and observations.

4.   Let students perform experiments and help with problems or questions.  See attached handout for instructions to students.

5.   Have students record their group data on a table on the board in front of the class.  Students should determine the relationship between what they tested (volume, viscosity, or slope) and surface area of the liquid.  They should write down if their hypothesis was supported or rejected.

6.   After their experiment, students should move on to part 2 of the activity, where each group “becomes” a group of geochemical engineers with the goal of  finding a good way to stop, slow down, or divert lava flows from human settlements.  Student’s should be allowed to be creative and not worry about how much a solution will cost or how hard it would be to achieve.   Allow students to brainstorm and write down ideas. 

7.   Have a group discussion (see associated lesson: How far does a lava flow go?). 

 

 

 

Attachments

 

1). Activity Instructions Handout:

 

To download word document, see associated lesson.

To view html, go to:

 

http://measure.igpp.ucla.edu/GK12-SEE-LA/Lesson_Files_08/How_Far_Activity_Instructions.htm

 

 

2) Graph Paper_1cm2

 

To download word document, see associated lesson.

 

Safety Issues

This activity is very safe, with no major precautions.  If the teacher wishes to include the option to test the affect of temperature on surface area, the teacher may want to monitor students when they are heating up soap in a microwave as soap should not be overheated (only ~ 10 sec is necessary). Students should not ingest soap.

 

Troubleshooting Tips

 

 

Investigating Questions

See associated lesson

Assessment

Pre-lesson Assessment

 

Title: Preliminary questions for students

Ask student the following questions:

1) Which phase is lava from a volcano in (Answer: liquid)

2) Do all liquids move in the same way? (Answer: no, some are fast, some slow)

3) Do you think that towns/ cities that are close to volcanoes are all at the same risk during an eruption (Answer: you should expect various answers of why or why not the students think some locations/ volcanoes may be riskier than others)

 

Activity Embedded Assessment

Title: Experimentation & data collection

Make sure that each group has written down their hypothesis on how volume, viscosity, or slope will affect the surface area that their lava (soap) covers. 

After the experiment, students should record their data in their own data tables and write it up on the board for the class to copy down.  Each student should determine and write what the relationship is between surface area and each of volume, viscosity, or slope.  They should state whether their hypothesis was supported.

 

Post-Activity Assessment

Title: Class-wide analysis of results & discussion

Ask for a volunteer from each group to describe what they found from their experiments about the relationship between the surface area that a liquid covers and its volume, viscosity, and the slope of the substrate it flowed across.  If there are unexpected results, discuss what could have caused them.  Ask students again, if they think all volcanoes are equally dangerous (students should realize that danger may depend on how much lava is released, its viscosity (or how fast it moves), and the slope of the volcano it flows down).  Ask students what they came up with as “geochemical engineers” to halt or divert the flow of lava (students should suggest ways to increase viscosity, make the slope less steep, reduce the volume, among other creative ideas).  Lastly, ask students how the properties of lava they learned about during the activity are relevant to understanding the movements of other liquids.

 

Activity Scaling

·      For lower grades, this activity can teach about the conceptually simple topics of how volume and slope affect the surface area a liquid can cover.  It can also be a whole-classroom activity where each experiment is performed in front of the classroom with students being called on to do each step.

 

·      For upper grades, the activity can be made more difficult by asking students to make bar graphs of their data or repeat their experiment 3 times and calculate an average (more time may be required).  The lesson could also be less guided, requiring students to figure out and record their own methods in order to test their hypotheses.  More options for experimentation could be included, such as the effect of temperature and substrate texture on surface area. 

Additional Multimedia Support

 

References

Smith, Michael; Southard, John B.; Eisenkraft, Arthur; Freebury, Gary; Ritter, Robert; Demery, Ruta.  Integrated Coordinated Science for the 21st Century. Armonk, NY: It’s About Time, 2004.  Lesson is adapted from Part A: Area of Lava Flow, pp. 26.

 

Source of lava channel image:

http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/images/lava_channel_image.html&edu=mid&back=/search/search_navigation.html

Other

 

 

Owner

UCLA SEE-LA GK-12 Program, University of California, Los Angeles.

 

Contributors

Developers: Brittany Enzmann and Marschal Fazio.  This activity was developed as part of the UCLA Science and Engineering of the Environment of Los Angeles (SEE-LA GK-12) program and has been classroom tested in several 9th grade Integrated Coordinates Science classes at University High School in Los Angeles.

 

Copyright

© 2009 University of California, Los Angeles. This digital library content was developed by the UCLA SEE-LA GK-12 program under National Science Foundation grant number 0742410.