Volcano task: Year 8

Dear Professor……………..

The small Caribbean island of Mont Isle is planning to hold a major celebration in three months time. The island is ten miles long and is part of an arc of islands typical of the Caribbean. At one end of the island is a tall, beautiful, cone-shaped mountain; a composite volcano which the local people call Poco-poco.
The mountain is over 1000 metres tall and is also known as a strato volcano. The capital city of Iguana Cay is located at the base of the mountain in the middle of the island. No one living on the island remembers any volcanic activity coming from Poco-poco.

The mayor, Jose Cruz, is concerned that tourists may not come to the celebration because of other volcanic eruptions on nearby islands. He needs an expert volcanologist to give him a briefing on volcanoes so he can give an explanation to any worried tourists and to the local and international press.

Due to your reputation as an esteemed volcanologist you have been selected to submit a report. The tasks you need to cover are outlined below. The mayor is an intelligent and educated man, however he is also very busy. Your report will therefore need to explain the complexities of volcanic eruptions in a clear and straightforward way. You should also aim to use pictures/diagrams/maps wherever possible to help clarify your writing.

USE THE MARK SCHEME ON YOUR SHEET to make sure you include sufficient detail!

You may use any book or magazine in your classroom (or in the library). Your primary resource will be the Internet. Do NOT do a search for volcanoes!

Use only the two Internet web sites listed below this paragraph. Warning, do not look for Mont Isle, Iguana Cay, or Poco-poco; they do not exist. However, volcanoes and islands like them exist throughout the Caribbean. The Volcanoes in the Learning Web is maintained by the U S Geological Service. This site is an excellent overview of the subject and includes cutaway drawings as well as some great photos The Volcano World is a site sponsored by NASA. One of the features of this site is the Ask a Volcanologist section. You can send a question to be answered by a Volcano scientist. (click on the links to quickly get to these sites)