Students will use InspireData to analyze the 16 Current Decade Volcanoes. This lesson can be used at the elementary level as a group activity to show plots that will answer the series of questions below. It also allows teachers to create the visual representation to promote discussion and critical thinking and data analysis in a group setting. At the middle school level, the questions below can be used as the assignment for which student groups build slides that will address and answer each question. The student groups can then each present a slide and use their data analysis skills to convey to the audience the question that is being answered by the plot. Questions: What kind of volcanic action is most often involved with the 16 Current Decade Volcanoes? How many, of the 16, share this volcanic action? Of the three types of volcanoes represented, which is the most common in this database? What percentage of the volcanoes represented are this most common volcano type? What is the mean (average) elevation (in feet) of all the volcanoes represented in this database? Which three volcanoes are the tallest? List them by name and by location. Are the volcanoes erupting more or less often? What seems to be the trend in the last twenty-five years? What percentage of the stratovolcanoes, that have erupted at least three times in the last 106 years, have also erupted since 2004?
This activity was created using InspireData 1.5, which must be installed to open the file(s). Download a 30-day free trial at www.inspiration.com/freetrial or if you have InspireData 1.0, download a complementary upgrade.