Destination: Mars - ER - NASA

Classroom Procedure(This activity can easily be simplified as needed.)1. Have teams trade volcanoes so that theywill map a volcano with an “unknown”history. They may give the volcano aname if desired.2. Ask groups to draw a map (birds-eyeview) of the volcano. This may be madein actual size or they may make a scaledrawing. The map should include a Northdirection arrow. An example drawn onthe board or overhead may be helpful ifstudents are not familiar with transferringmeasurements to a grid. Students willneed to make careful observations andmeasurements to map the volcanoesaccurately. Color and label the map.3. Answer the questions on Student Sheet.Note: Some volcanoes may be morecomplex than others—each will bedifferent!! There may be flows that arecompletely covered, some flows that havetwo separate lobes, and some flows forwhich the sequential relationship can notbe determined at the surface.4. Lead the students to question what theycannot see below the surface. Where dothe flows extend under the exposedsurface? Lead them to name ways theycan see what is below the surface withoutlifting the play dough. They may suggestdrill holes or cores, river erosion andbank exposure, earthquakes, or road cutsand other excavations.5. Have groups make a plan that shows ontheir map where they want to put thesubsurface exposures. They shouldindicate how the proposed cores and cutswill maximize the information they mightgain from excavations. Limit the numberof exposures each group may use, i.e.,five drill cores and one road cut and oneriver erosion.6. Make the cuts or cores.• Remove drill core by pushing a strawvertically into the playdough, twistingif necessary, and withdrawing thestraw. Blow through the open end ofthe straw to remove the core. Put thecore on a toothpick and place it bythe hole for reference.• River valleys may be made by cuttingand removing a “v” shape in the sideof the volcano (open part of “v”facing down slope).• To make road cuts, use knife ordental floss to cut and remove a stripabout 1 cm wide and as deep as youwant from any part of the volcano.• To make earthquake exposures,make a single cut and lift or drop oneside of the fault line. Some supportwill be necessary.7. Record cuts and cores on the map and innotes. Be sure to use locationinformation, i.e., core # 2 is located onthe blue flow in the Northeast quadrant ofthe volcano.8. Observe hidden layers. Interpret dataand draw dotted lines on the mapindicating the approximate or inferredboundaries of the subsurface flows.9. On a separate paper, write a short historyof the volcano that relates sequence offlows and relative volumes of flows (ormake a geologic column, a map key tothe history that shows oldest geologicactivity at the bottom and youngest at thetop). Math classes may try to figure thevolume of the various flows.10. Compare the history developed bymapping in Part 2 with the original historyfrom the group that made the volcano inPart 1. Write how they are similar ordifferent.11. Conduct debriefings at several stages ofthis activity.22 Destination: Mars 10/97 NASA JSC