---
title: "Power of Eruptions"
description: "Understand that volcanic eruptions can send out lava and ash and can change the land by removing material or adding new rock"
canonical: https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/power-of-eruptions-mt_BLQ2_OXPod
source: https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/power-of-eruptions-mt_BLQ2_OXPod.md
retrieved: 2026-10-19
---

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# Power of Eruptions

Understand that volcanic eruptions can send out lava and ash and can change the land by removing material or adding new rock

Subject: Science · Area: Volcanoes & Earthquakes · Ages 5 to 7
Page: https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/power-of-eruptions-mt_BLQ2_OXPod

## Ready when they can

- Describe what can happen during a large, explosive eruption
- Give examples of how an eruption changes the area around a volcano
- Compare the landscape before and after an eruption using pictures

## Lesson: The Power of an Eruption

Some volcanic eruptions are big and loud. They can throw lava and ash into the air. Lava is hot melted rock. Ash is made of tiny pieces of rock. Other eruptions send lava flowing over the ground without a big explosion. Both kinds can change the land.

**Example.** Mount St. Helens once had a high peak and wooded slopes. During its big eruption, a huge landslide removed part of its north side. Afterward, the mountain had a lower peak and a large crater. Ash covered nearby land and reached towns far away.

*(drawing: These cards describe the change. Photographs show the mountain itself.)*

An eruption can add land too. Lava cools and becomes hard rock. More lava can flow over that rock and cool. Over time, the new rock can build hills or islands.

Compare pictures of the same place before and after an eruption. Look for fresh ash, new rock, or a change in the mountain's shape. Pictures of two different volcanoes cannot show how one place changed.

**Recap.** An eruption is powerful and can change the land in big ways.

## Practice

8 questions on this page, each with its working shown.

## Needs first

- [What Is a Volcano](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/what-is-a-volcano-mt_S9SKah-yi_)

## Opens up

- [Active, Dormant & Extinct](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/active-dormant-and-extinct-mt_dSeFrAWE4v)
- [Tsunamis](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/tsunamis-mt_Wu-ftkzoiE)
- [Pompeii & Vesuvius](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/pompeii-and-vesuvius-mt_XG4RqUIXm8)