Volcanic eruptions are unpredictable

One of our very popular Earthlearningideas is "Take a 'Chance' on the volcano erupting" This activity uses measuring the force required to burst a party popper as an analogy for the prediction of volcanic eruptions. A series of possible events in the build up of a volcanic eruption is given on ‘Chance’ cards. These are selected at random and the instructions given on the card are followed until the party popper ‘erupts’. Through this activity, students will discover many of the factors which are associated with the build up to a volcanic eruption. These include seismic activity, changes in gas emissions, swelling of the volcano’s surface, and minor eruptions of tephra (solid particles of congealed lava, in the form of ash or larger fragments).
The graph below shows some of the results:-

This is one of many activities about volcanoes - all free to download from our website