To Erupt or not to Erupt?

• How long is a volcanoes' fuse?

The town of Toutle, in southwest Washington state, is the town that was closest to Mount St. Helens during the 1980 eruption. This lesson lets your home town become the town of Toutle. It transports the precursor events that surrounded the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, to your town. The scientific reports that you download can be easily searched and replaced with the names of local people, towns, roads, and landmarks that your students are familiar with. This will help students to investigate geological and social phenomena, and their response to them, presented by a waking volcano.

Using the data supplied and the students own resources:

1. Develop a plan for evacuating residents, schools and recreation areas
2. Determine when and if roads and recreation areas should be closed
3. Consider and plan for the impact of increased tourism on business and community resources.
4. Develop a volcano monitoring system. (types of monitoring and location)
5. Determine, map, and prioritize potential volcanic hazards.
6. Send solutions and commentary to other participating classrooms.
7. Send email to VolcanoWorld experts for evaluation.

• Mount St. Helens Eruptive Activity
• The Two-Month Precursory Period
• Short Cut to Problem Solving

1. access to WWW and VolcanoWorld (30 minutes per group)
2. A USGS 15 minute topographical map of your local area
3. An atlas
4. Download: (use the print button from the browser)
1. regional map of the mountain area
2. Daily Volcano Reports

1. Divide the class into groups of 3-6 students.
2. Each person in the group should choose one or more characters to represent throughout the simulation. There are many roles to portray, here are a few examples:
1. scientist- Interprets data from the volcano, forecasts potential blast zones, paths and events. Recommends area closures, etc.
2. mayor- The mayors concerns are for the survival of the community, both physically and economically. Organizer of local resources, etc.
3. county engineer- Recommend and coordinate the closures of roads, bridges, dams and other structures, etc.
4. emergency personnel- National Guard, local police and sheriff. Plan and enforce area closures. Plan and coordinate the movement of people who are allowed into the closed areas, etc.
5. local resident- Concerned about personnel safety, saving possessions and access to property, etc.
6. visitor/sightseer- All you want is a CLOSE look at the mountain, etc.
3. Each group will read the Daily Volcano Report. The teacher should read the last report (#10) to the class.
4. Using diverse sources each group will devise a community plan and organize a response to the report. The following are examples of what the responses could include:
1. Initial reaction to the data.
2. A graphic of eruption, earthquake and weather activity.
3. The decisions made for immediate response to the situation.
4. Monitoring decisions.
5. What will have to be changed from the previous days plan.
6. A forecast of future events.
5. Email an abbreviated report to VolcanoWorld for evaluation by VolcanoWorld experts.
   

Encouraged:

1. Digitize your data and place it on your schools web site.
2. Send us the URL and we will link your site to VolcanoWorld.