Volcanoes on the planets!	What kinds of eruptions occurred on other planets?

	Our nearest neighbors in the solar system both have significant volcanic landforms; two examples are Olympus Mons on Mars (left) and "pancake domes" on Venus (right).  The links below provide more information on volcanoes on Mars and Venus as well as on our moon and Io, a moon of Jupiter.

"Volcanoes of Other Worlds" from Volcano World site Follow "Volcanism on Other Worlds" or "Planetary Volcanism" links on How VolcanoesWork site  Volcanoes on Mars at NASA's Mars Exploration Program site Exploratour -Volcanoes of the Solar System

Suggested Activity: Use the jigsaw technique with groups of three or four students to investigate volcanoes on other planets and moons.  This works best after learning about the different types of volcanoes that occur on Earth.  Students can choose (or be assigned) a particular planet or moon to investigate in detail.  The individual student task is to investigate the variety of volcanic landforms on their particular planet and to determine what is similar and what is different compared to those on Earth.  The "experts" then meet to share their detailed knowledge, and then the base group convenes so that each expert can share what they've learned and to create a final report on the variety of volcanic landforms in the solar system. The criteria for the activity can be tailored to grade or course level. This can be followed with the activity "What factors influence the shapes of volcanoes?" to help students investigate the influence of gravity on volcanic landforms.

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Text of this page © 2003 The NASA/UNCF Project,  Northeastern Illinois University
Last updated October 22, 2003.