How do you think our islands were formed?

As always in the inquiry process, we want to start with what the students already know so that we can build on that knowledge. To start with, I shared some Hawaiian legends that tell the story of how our islands were created. Then I asked the students how they think our islands were created. First they drew their ideas, making sure to label their picture, then they wrote a hypothesis that explained their drawing.

When they were finished with their hypothesis, I had them meet with a classmate to explain their hypothesis and ask each other questions about things that didn't make sense or were missing from either their own or their partner's theory. We collected these questions and today we looked at them all together. These questions will be the basis for our research.
Here are the questions that the children came up with:

• How do lava tubes get to the center of the earth?
• Where did Pele come from?
• How did Pele get to Hawai`i?
• Did the islands sink or float when they were made?
• Did the volcanoes explode or splatter everywhere?
• Where did the volcanoes come from?
• Where did Pangaea come from?
• How did Pangaea break apart?
• How did animals get to Hawai`i?
• Do volcanoes go away?
• How come you say the islands were made by God's hands and you drew a volcano that makes the islands?
• Where did the volcanoes come from?
• How did the rocks become grass?
• How do tectonic plates make volcanoes?
• How do volcanoes get bigger?
• Where do tectonic plates come from?
• If volcanoes are under water, why don't they get all soggy?
• How big are tectonic plates?
• Was magma always there?
• How do earthquakes get to volcanoes? Why?
• How did the volcanoes get in the middle of the ocean?
• Does a volcano erupt under water or just above water?
• Are the islands formed by magma or plate tectonics or a combination?
• How does a volcano form underwater?
• How do plants and crops grow?
• How does the water get to the plants if it doesn't rain?
• How long does it take for an island to form?
• What happens when volcanoes stop erupting?
• Where is the magma/lava on Hawai`i Island?

Posted on October 3, 2008 8:56 AM | Permalink