Published in the March 18-31, 2015 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By the Britton Middle School Volcano Kids
Britton Middle School Volcano Kids
Let’s throw Morgan Hill kids into an active volcano.
During spring break in April, 28 Britton Middle School students will travel to the island of Hawaii to learn about volcano science as well as marine life.
We’re going to Hawaii to experience hands-on learning activities about volcanoes, such as hiking up into the 4,091-foot volcano Kīlauea. One of the things we’ll learn is how magma, a molten rock mixture, travels from the Earth’s mantle to the surface where it cools and hardens into the rocks that create the land that makes up the island.
The magma gets hot because of the nuclear reactions in the interior of the Earth. These are “cooked” by the radioactive decay of the atomic elements uranium, potassium and thorium.
Hawaii’s Kīlauea is what geologists call a shield volcano. It is formed like a bump in the middle of the ocean that the lava oozes out of and forms a round dome-like mountain that looks like a shield. This started happening 300,000 to 600,000 years ago and it’s still happening now.
We will walk through the Thurston Lava Tube that looks like a big tunnel made by a giant worm. A lava tube is a structure the lava travels through to get to another location. We will do this to get an understanding of what tubes look like up-close. Scientists go to interesting places like Hawaii and discover new facts. Scientist who study volcanoes are volcanologists.
We’ll also swim with manta rays and kayak through sea caves. And we’ll snorkel in the bay at Captain Cook and explore the coral reefs.
This trip is costly, and that’s why we appreciate your support in helping us pay for this educational experience. Please send checks payable to Britton Volcano Kids Club at 80 West Central, Morgan Hill, CA 95037.
After a junior journalist workshop by Morgan Hill Life Publisher Marty Cheek, the Britton Volcano Kids Club at Britton Middle School wrote this column.
