Wonder Inquiry Assignment

Wonder Inquiry Assignment A volcano could shoot out magma or lie dormant for its whole life. The topic that I investigated was volcanoes. I remember watching a video about volcanoes in my middle school science class, and at that moment I wanted to become a Volcanologist. That dream was short lived because I knew nothing about volcanoes, and I was not sure how I would go to school to become a Volcanologist. Since then, I have always been curious about volcanoes and one day, I would love to see a volcano in person. While researching, I discovered the interesting fact that volcanoes can occur on the ocean floor and under ice caps. (CITEngkids) Researching volcanoes has allowed me gain more knowledge about this topic and thus overall becoming educated about volcanoes. (That may/might/could be useful as a future teacher) The first thing that I wanted to know more about was how volcanoes were actually formed. Normally, volcanoes will form near the edges of Earth’s tectonic plates along the ring of fire. (CITE satellitie images). The ring of fire is where the collision of tectonic plates most often happen. Underneath the tectonic plates there is a …show more content…
The three classifications/shapes are shield volcanoes, cinder cone volcanoes and Stratovolcanoes, also known as composite volcanoes (CTIE). A shield volcano slopes gently. Cinder cone volcanoes are the most common type and have cone-shaped peaks. Stratovolcanoes are known as composite volcanoes because of the layering within the volcano. Inside there are layers that alternate between lava, ash, and un-melted rock. These volcanoes are considered the most violent type because of the eruptions. Pressure is able to build within the different layers and when the magma is finally able to reach the top, the volcano will explode. Often, due to this great pressure the stratovolcanoes will blow out the sides of the structure as well as the top opening (CITE live