Module IV - Alaska's Volanoes

ENGAGE

Volcanoes -- Where East Meets West
Alaska's Aleutian Archipelago stretches across two days to where east meets west. This arc of 300 mostly volcanic islands with 57 active volcanoes is the northern boundary of the Pacific Ring of Fire. This enormous geographic feature is paralleled underwater by its associated, and arguably more dramatic, Aleutian Trench.

To help put all this into geographic perspective, we'll get a Google Earth and Teacher's Domain point of view of volcano formation and how Pacific cultures fit into the picture.

EXPLORE

Google Earth -- Measuring Up
Have you ever used the Ruler feature in Google Earth to measure geographic distances? If so, you probably have found many uses for this easy feature both inside and outside the classroom. Let's try our hand at it now by measuring and relating some geographic distances in Alaska.

In Google Earth:

1. Select the Ruler feature from the icons at the top of the frame.
   
2. In the pop-up, you can choose units of distance from Smoots to Miles. Select miles, please.
   
3. You can also choose to measure using Line or Path functions. Please choose Path for this activity.
4. Have Fun!

EXPLAIN

• How long is the Aleutian Archipelago?
• How long is the Aleutian Trench?

EXTEND

• Try taking a screen shot of your measurement and saving it to your computer.
• Try measuring some other important feature or route.
  

EVALUATE

• How useful is Google Earth for helping students spacial understanding?
  

ENGAGE

TD Resources-Volcanoes
Explore Alaska's Volcanoes is a TD interactive feature that allows you to select and explore information about different Aleutian volcanoes.

You may find it interesting to view this resource alongside the previously introduced, Tectonic Plates, Earthquakes and Volcanoes interactive resource to view how plate tectonics, earthquakes and volcanoes all converge to create the Aleutian Islands.

Also illuminating is the TD video, Volcanoes in the Infrared, which tells how satellites can be used to monitor volcano dynamics.

EXPLORE

Explore Alaska's Volcanoes






Tectonic Plates, Earthquakes and Volcanoes






Volcanoes in the Infrared






EXPLAIN

• What is the primary source of energy that creates volcanoes?
  
• What kind of plate tectonic action is responsible for the Aleutian Islands' volcanoes?

EXTEND

• What other island arcs in the Pacific Ocean arise from similar processes?

EVALUATE

• Why are volcanoes a good subject to interest students in geosciences?
  

Module IV - Pacific Hot Spots

ENGAGE
Since it's almost Winter in Alaska, let's take a Google Earth vacation for a few minutes by taking a look at the famous volcanic feature in the middle of the Pacific--the Hawaiian Island chain. Like the Aleutian Islands, it is also the result of plate tectonics, but for very different reasons and with very different results.


EXPLORE
Google Earth -- Measuring Up II
Using Google Earth, measure the length of this chain of volcanoes, both above and underwater. Start at the big island of Hawaii and continue to where they collide with the tip of the Aleutian chain.



EXPLAIN

• How long is the Hawaii Island/Emperor Seamount chain?

EXTEND

• How is this feature geologically different than the Aleutians?
  
• Why do you think the island chain is not straight?

EXPLORE SOME MORE...
TD Resources-Volcanoes
Now take a look at the TD videos, The Hawaiian Archipelago and Underwater Hotspots to make some comparisons between the Aleutian and Hawaiian Islands origins and processes.

The Hawaiian Archipelago






Underwater Hotspots



Helpful Hint: For more great resources about volcanoes, try the NOVA interactive resource, Deadly Volcanoes.


EXPLAIN

• What processes are creating the Hawaii Island/Emperor Seamount chain?

EXTEND

• Compare hot spot island chains to trench island arcs.

EVALUATE

• How useful are these digital media in helping geoscience learners grasp geologic processes.
  

Module IV - Tsunami

ENGAGE

Tsunami - Seismic Sea Waves
Tsunami have been around as long as Earth has had earthquakes and oceans. While we have some geologic record of tsunamis, our brief human history has a limited record of these cataclysmic events.

After exploring resources in the preceding two sections about earthquakes and volcanoes, it's not surprising that Alaska also has quite a history of tsunamis. Some of the most dramatic Alaska Tsunami stories are the result of the seismically active Fairweather fault that runs hundreds of miles along the coast of southeast Alaska--right through the head of Lituya Bay south of Yakutat on the Gulf of Alaska.

Tlinget oral tradition tells of one such earthquake and resultant tsunami in 1853 or 1854 that devastated a village in Lituya Bay. According to the story, most of the men had left their village in Lituya Bay to hunt and returned later to find only one young girl and her dog who were spared because she had been on high ground picking berries.

Another tsunami visited the same bay in 1936, wiping out the garden and shed of the Bay's sole inhabitant, Jim Huscroft, who lived in the center of the bay on Cenotaph Island.

But the most dramatic story in Lituya Bay tsunami history occurred late in the evening of July 9, 1958. Fishermen in their boats anchored in the sheltered waters of Lituya Bay for the night awoke to the terrible shaking and groaning of the earth.

The surrounding mountains shed a huge volume of land and ice into the waters at the head of the bay creating a displacement wave tsunami that initially swept more than 1700 feet up the side of the opposing mountain, clearing it of everything down to bedrock. Some fishermen lived to tell the story....

EXPLORE

YouTube
Check out this BBC Nature video, MegaTsunami on YouTube.

While you're there, you're bound to find more amazing video resources about tsunamis, like these two tsunamisimulations.


BBC Nature video, MegaTsunami

Lituya Bay simulation
Lituya-pro.mov

EXPLAIN

• How was the 1958 Lituya Bay tsunami different from most seismic sea waves?

EXTEND

• What stories do you know of landscape changing forces that shaped the culture of a place ?
  

EVALUATE

• Describe the value of YouTube as an educational tool.
  

ENGAGE

Google Earth - Tsunami
One valuable and interesting aspect of the perspective that Google Earth gives us is the opportunity to better understand the scale of geologic forces. In Google Earth, or on any map, you can see the network of fjords, straits and inlets that make up the Alexander Archipelago of Southeast Alaska.

While you may already know that these fjords are the result of glacial erosion over eons, did you know these passages incidentally also mark the network of underlying faults that resulted from the formation of this geologically complex region?


EXPLORE

1. Find Lituya Bay and locate the glacial valley that runs perpendicular through the head of the bay. This is the enormous and active Fairweather Fault.
2. Try exploring the features of the region by rotating and tilting the image to provide a 3D perspective.
3. Locate the swash zone left behind by the enormous tsunami of 1958. (It looks like a pale green bathtub ring around the inside of the bay.)

EXPLAIN

• What is the relationship between the Fairweather Fault and recurring tsunami in Lituya Bay?
• Why does the tsunami swash zone appear a different color?

EXTEND

• How does the system of faults along the Gulf of Alaska coast indicate the action of plate tectonics?

EVALUATE

• Comment on the value or utility of geo-info rich digital resources, alongside the value of culturally rich stories.
  

ENGAGE
TD Resources - Tsunami
No story of Alaska tsunamis is complete without a look at the terrible waves that swept over Alaska towns and villages in the wake of the 1964 magnitude 9.2 Good Friday earthquake. Take a look at the TD resource, Alaska Tsunami.


EXPLORE SOME MORE...

Alaska Tsunami






Helpful Hint: For more information about tsunamis, try these links to great NOVA resources:Wave of the Future and Wave that Shook the World.

EXPLAIN

• Besides tectonic plate displacement, what are other causes of tsunamis?
  
• Why are tsunami inevitable along the gulf coast of Alaska?

EXTEND

• Include Google Earth screen shots or other information and links that you found useful in portraying tsunami in Alaska.

EVALUATE

• How do these resources impact your, or your students learning?

Module IV - Blog It!

Essential Question: How do stories of cataclysmic events help inform students about geosciences and cultures?


After you have reviewed all TD resources and completed the Google Earth activities for this module, it's time to Blog It!

• Explain: Address the 3 Questions and 3 Colleagues
• Extend: Describe how you might use these resources in your classroom. Include images and links to other resources you found useful.
• Evaluate: Reflect on the value of the content and resources in this module.

It's interesting to see how our blogs evolve in style and content over time. You may even want to check out some of your classmates' blogs before working on yours.

Module III - The Landscapes of Life,

Essential Question: How are landscapes formed and how, in turn, are cultures shaped by their landscapes?

Introduction - The Landscapes of Life
We all live on a landscape that was and is shaped by geologic forces--fast or slow, enormous or minuscule. Scattered across Earth’s varied landscapes, we all tread upon a natural history that is varied and fascinating if we take time to explore some of its secrets - secrets about how and when the landscape took form and the forces that continually shape its contours.

For economic reasons, landscapes are called upon to sustain the lives of the people living there. And for ecological reasons, every landscape is connected to its human economy, its culture.

Consider the village of Koyukuk along the Yukon River. Among other important purposes, residents use the river for transportation, whether frozen or flowing, though freeze and break-up seasons may limit its use.

Or consider Fairbanks along the Chena River. Mountains many miles away were/are weathered and eroded, their sediments transported, sorted and deposited over eons, providing rich mineral resources for the dredge mining economy in Fairbanks.

The list goes on and on for every place where people live. From fish, timber and tourism in Southeast, to the precious metals and fossil fuels found further north, Alaska landscapes provide much more than human transportation corridors or material commodities.

The living systems (biomes) – tundra, ocean, alpine, wetlands, forests -- also provide biological resources that have sustained human societies for many thousands of years. And not surprisingly, cultures thrive where there are ample resources to sustain them.

Each year salmon return to the myriad rivers that drain and erode Alaska’s great watersheds. Swarming herds of caribou migrate across vast arctic plains. Pods of bowhead whales follow ice leads as they migrate to northern feeding grounds each spring.

These biological systems are vitally connected to their physical landscapes and to the people who are sustained by them. While recognizing the vital role of related biological systems, for this module we will focus primarily on the relationships between physical landscapes and the cultures that inhabit them.

Module III - Cultural Connections

Essential Question: How are landscapes formed and how, in turn, are cultures shaped by their landscapes?

ENGAGE

Cultural Connections to Landscapes

A variety of cultures have inhabited Alaska for varied amounts of time since North America’s first Beringian migrations thousands of years ago. Irrespective of the language, customs or timing of each society, each took root in its place, at least in part, because of the landscape and the resources it provides, as well as adapting to changes in those landscapes.

For example, because of their elevation and the physics of phase change, mountains capture rain and snow and release or store its moisture as glaciers and/or rivers. Forests flank the mountains and rivers drawing water from melting snow and ice, in turn providing critical habitat for wildlife and fish and people.

This interconnectedness of rising mountains and falling water, along with the varied life that thrives in each place, participates in creating the dynamic tapestry of landscapes that help support those living there.

While rivers supply food, water, transportation and other resources, they also flood, erode and meander. Cultures living along rivers and relying on them must also understand their dynamics and how to respond.

The same should be said of all peoples and the places they inhabit. Whether it's the weather, earthquakes, volcanoes, flooding or fire, cultures have either adapted to their landscape's dynamics or migrated or perished.

EXPLORE

TD Resources - Cultural Connections
Let’s take a closer look at the way of life for some of Alaska’s indigenous peoples and others by reviewing these TD resources:

On the Yukon River

Living from the Land and the Sea

The Spirit of Subsistence Living

ENGAGE

Career Connections
Growing up is challenging enough for any student. Doing so while living in two cultural worlds takes extraordinary effort and support. All students look to adults for cues and examples for their own future possibilities.

Seeing examples of adults who have successfully merged cultures provides encouragement as well as new ideas as students make their own journey into adulthood and vocations.

Enter Richard Glenn who shines two lights on the same path:


EXPLORE

Richard Glenn: Iñupiaq Geologist

EXPLAIN

• What cultures are represented in these TD resources?
• Describe some important cultural connections to physical landscapes.
• Give examples of how people adapt to changes in culture and/or landscape.

EXTEND

• What unique challenges do rural or urban Alaskan students face?
• Compare the teaching roles of the Chevak native teachers to their visitors.
• What local human resources do you know that help connect people to place?

EVALUATE

• How important is a sense of place for an individual or culture?
• What are some of the values of living close to the land that may be overlooked by those living in more urban or developed settings.

Helpful Hint: Be sure to review the background information provided with each TD resource any time you use TD. It’s good stuff and saves you time!

Here’s another Helpful Hint: Did you discover other useful TD resources along your journey? Save your ideas and resources in folders on the TD website. It's easy and it's free!

Module III - Landform Forces

ENGAGE

Landform Forces -Mountain Building and Erosion
It’s easy enough to figure out how a volcanic mountain forms because its processes are visible and rapid on the geologic or human time scale. But what about other features that form more slowly, like Denali (Mt. McKinley), or Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest), or Uluru (Ayer’s Rock)? Clearly, these mountains are not volcanic, so early geologists struggled to piece together the puzzle of how these mountains were formed and in turn are worn away.

Little did early geoscientists know the answer to the mystery of mountains was directly related to other important questions, such as the curious fitting shape of the Atlantic continents and the similar fossil record and geology of opposite shores across the ocean.

EXPLORE

Let’s use these select TD resources to take a closer look at the geologically recent discovery of plate tectonics and how it explains how mountains are made and how entire continents drift apart.

Plate Tectonics: An Introduction






Tectonic Plate Movement in Alaska






Mountain Maker, Earth Shaker






Tectonic Plates, Earthquakes and Volcanoes

Rock Cycle Animation

EXPLAIN

• Compare Pangaea’s break-up 200 million years ago to Earth’s 4.6 billion year history.
• Describe the relationship between tectonic forces, mountains and earthquakes.
• Describe and contrast weathering and eroding forces for Earth’s landscapes.

EXTEND

• What local geologic structures and/or forces are evident to your students?
• How you might use any of these resources in your classes?

EVALUATE

• Describe the value of your students' understanding of geologic processes.