Although this isn’t the usual weekly homeschool language arts lesson, it is interesting enough as a unit study that you should adapt it to include more language arts activities. For example, choose from the extensive glossary of terms to create a vocabulary list, stressing definitions, spelling, etc. Also, have your homeschooler do some additional research after this project — both online and in the local public library. Write a short paper on this additional research, including the sources used.
ABOUT THE CASE OF THE MISSING RUMBLEOMETER
Scientists at the New Millenium Observatory (NeMO) received a National Science Foundation grant to create a wonderful in-depth unit study for middle and high school kids that examines the relationships between volcanic events, the chemistry of seafloor hotsprings, and the biologic communities that depend on them.
The adventure begins when students work through the mystery (just as scientists did) of what happened to the Rumbleometer, a NOAA seafloor instrument used to monitor volcanic activity, after a volcanic event right in the study area.
Students use real scientific techniques to unravel the mystery, including
- Using triangulation to locate an earthquake epicenter
- making an ocean floor traverse with a remotely operated vehicle.
- Creating cross-section profiles of the seafloor to determine where there have been depth changes due to an eruption.
- Graphing data from the rumbleometer instrument and using it to figure out what happened at the volcano and when.
The NeMO unit study is broken up into 4 parts, in an exceptional presentation available in multiple formats.
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