TEACHING VOLCANOLOGY ABOARD THE RUTGERS UNIVERSITY SCIENCE EXPLORER

The Rutgers Science Explorer is a 40-foot, state-of-the-art, custom-designed mobile laboratory and science demonstration center that brings exciting and innovative hands-on activities to middle and junior high schools throughout New Jersey. The bus features interactive exhibits and laboratory exercises in the life sciences, earth science, and the physical sciences and is staffed by Rutgers graduate and undergraduate students. One popular activity focuses on a variety of geologic processes associated with volcanic eruptions. Students are led through a discussion of the role of pressure in volcanic eruptions followed by the "mini-zooka" activity, where students use a small air gun to launch projectiles that simulate volcanic ejecta. In the second activity, students model active processes on volcanic slopes by pouring different sized beans into a clear container to observe how the material sorts itself into layers that can record a volcanoes' history. The final activity, the favorite of most students, challenges the commonly held belief that volcanoes begin erupting from fully formed conical volcanic structures, when in fact they generally form on flat ground and build themselves up over time.