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
The lesson
You already know what earthquakes and volcanoes are. But here is something interesting: 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.
Watch it
Where it sits
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.