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What Is a Volcano

Know what a volcano is: an opening in Earth's surface where hot melted rock (lava) comes out

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What a learner can do afterwards

  • Describe a volcano as a place where hot material comes out of the Earth
  • Explain that lava is rock so hot it has melted
  • Point to a volcano in a picture and describe what is happening

The lesson

A volcano is an opening in the ground. Hot melted rock inside the Earth pushes up. That hot rock is called lava.

A volcano looks like a mountain with a hole on top.
Try it together

Maya looks at a picture of a volcano. She sees red lava coming from the top. She knows the lava is melted rock.

Good to know

Lava is rock so hot it melted. That is why it glows and flows like a liquid.

A volcano is an opening where hot, melted lava comes out.

Watch it

Where it sits

Where this leads

Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.

Then practise

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.

What Is a Volcano · Science, ages 5 to 7 · LightMySky