Ring of Fire
Recognise that volcanoes and earthquakes tend to happen in certain places, especially around the edges of the Pacific Ocean (Ring of Fire), not randomly across the Earth
What a learner can do afterwards
- Describe the pattern that volcanoes and earthquakes cluster in certain zones
- Locate the Ring of Fire on a world map
- Explain that the locations of earthquakes and volcanoes are not random
1 · Read
You already know what earthquakes and volcanoes are. They do not happen just anywhere on Earth. If you marked every earthquake and volcano on a world map, they would not be scattered like confetti. They would line up in bands and loops.
Japan sits right on the edge of the Pacific Ocean, on the Ring of Fire. It has many earthquakes and volcanoes. A place in the middle of a continent, far from any ocean edge, rarely has either.
To find the Ring of Fire on a map, trace the west coasts of North and South America, up through Alaska, down through Japan and the Philippines, and around to New Zealand. That whole loop is the Ring of Fire.
Earthquakes and volcanoes are not scattered randomly. They cluster in bands and loops, and the biggest loop, the Ring of Fire, circles the edges of the Pacific Ocean.
More to read
Ruff Ruffman's Ring of Fire Travel Guide
Play a game with Ruff Ruffman, a funny dog from PBS. He takes you on a trip around the Pacific Ocean. This part of the world is called the Ring of Fire. Along the way you will see that volcanoes and earthquakes keep showing up in the same places. They are not sprinkled randomly around the Earth. They cluster together in a ring around the Pacific Ocean, and this game helps you find out why.
Using Google Earth to Explore Plate Tectonics
Use Google Earth to go on a treasure hunt around our planet. You can look at the tops of the continents and the floor of the oceans. You can mark where earthquakes happen and where volcanoes are found. When you put them all on one map, a pattern appears. The earthquakes and volcanoes line up along the edges of the giant plates that make up Earth's outer shell. The edges of the plates are where the action happens.
Volcanoes 101
Some mountains, like the Rocky Mountains, are made of solid rock. But some mountains are volcanoes. A volcano is an opening in the Earth's crust where hot liquid rock called lava comes out, along with ash and steam. When the lava cools, it hardens into the cone-shaped mountain we picture. Most of the world's volcanoes are not just anywhere. They are found around the edges of the huge plates that make up Earth's outer shell, both on land and under the ocean. That is why so many of them sit in a ring around the Pacific Ocean.
2 · Watch
به انگلیسیTake it off screen
Where it sits
Learn first
Optional connections
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Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.