Volcanos and Igneous Rocks Pop-Up Books

When I was taught earth science when I was a child, I was just given three lists of rocks according to their category and only the most basic information about how the groups were formed. When it came to igneous rocks, I was only told that they were formed by a volcano, but I wasn't given any information about what made one rock different from another, so of course I forgot this information. I wanted to give my children more. I found out some wonderful detailed information from The Amateur Geologist by Raymond Wiggers, but I wanted to present this information in a visual way. So, I decided to help them make pop-up volcano books.

To make these, you first need to have them draw/color a volcano. I just copied one I found in a book to have them color. These labeled the parts of a volcano. Next make the booklet. Take a regular piece of cardstock and fold it in half and then in half again, making a little book like a card. Unfold the piece of cardstock. The volcano gets glued, centered on the fold on the bottom half of the cardstock. Leave about a half-inch or so from the bottom. When you refold the card, notice where the volcano outline falls and cut out the volcano shape, leaving about a half-inch on the bottom of either side in tact. You should be able to pull this layer out, refolding in the opposite direction, to get a pop-out mountain.

Have them decorate this layer as a mountain or volcano scene. Have them draw two rocks in their scene -one on the volcano or near the base and one as far from the volcano as you can on the ground. Have them also draw a rock inside the volcano. You can have them label the rocks while you tell them about how they are formed.

If the rock is formed far below the surface, it becomes granite and the Obsidian formed above ground near the volcano's vent. The Basalt Lava originated in a surface flow some distance from the volcano. We also looked at actual rocks and after our discussions, they could put them in the correct places.