The Extremes of Volcanic Activity: Earth and Jupiter's Moon Io

Jupiter's moon Io is the solar system's most volcanically active body, and the only place that magmatic volcanic eruptions have been observed beyond Earth. One of the first images of Io obtained by NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft in 1979 shows a plume above one of its volcanoes. The NASA Voyager and Galileo spacecraft imaged many explosive eruptions of plumes and deposits - which travel hundreds of kilometers (farther than on the Earth or the Moon). Very hot lavas that are erupting from volcanic vents on Io may be similar to lavas that erupted on Earth billions of years ago. Understanding the physical processes driving volcanic eruptions is important for the understanding of terrestrial volcanoes, not only because of their potential hazards, but also as geologic resources, biologic environments, and for their role in shaping the surface of Earth and other planets. Volcanic eruptions are perhaps the most dramatic events on Earth, and are of intrinsic interest to students, youth, and adults. Topics involving volcanoes are a part of the national science education benchmarks for understanding the Earth's composition and structure for grades 6-8 (the process of creating landforms) and grades 9-12 (the effects of movement of crustal plates). Natural events on Earth coupled with exciting discoveries in space can serve to heighten the awareness of these phenomena and provide learning opportunities for real world applications of science. Educational applications for youth to compare volcanic activity on Io and Earth have been done through NASA-sponsored field trip workshops to places such as Yellowstone National Park (allowing educators to experience environments similar to those on other worlds), targeted classroom and hands-on activities, special interest books, and other resources. A sampling of such activities will be presented, and discussion invited on other related developmentally appropriate resources and activities.