We are volcanologists

What is a volcanologist? Today we learned that they are scientists who study volcanoes. They gather data about volcanoes by looking at rocks and soil and land features like rocky outcrops, then they study and interpret their findings.

We went to the Nature Trail and Putikitiki to gather data like volcanologists. We looked at the banks and rocky areas to gather our data. We talked about why these areas would be good places to look (because they are parts of the land that haven't been changed a lot by people, unlike the courts or the playing field).

Gathering Data:

We collected rocks from 3 different areas: the top of the Nature Trail, the bottom of the Nature Trail, and the bank beside Putikitiki. We also looked at and talked about the soil in these 3 areas.

Here is some of the data we gathered:

Top of Nature Trail:
"it's shady"
"The earth is warm and soft"
"Grey earth" 

Bottom of Nature Trail:

"it's sandy"

"it's dusty"

 

Putikitiki bank:

"There's a hole"

"It's dusty"

"There's a white part in the soil and a grey part" 

 

We took our rock samples back to the class, and sorted them into the different areas where they were collected, then we looked closely at them. Here is some of the data we gathered about them:

Rocks from the Nature Trail:
- They had different shapes. Some were black, most were little, and some were sparkly. One from the bottom of the Nature Trail had "bits sticking out."

Rocks from Putikitiki bank:
Most were "powdery" and "light coloured." One was "black and shiny," and one was orange.

Now that we have gathered our data, we are going to study and interpret our findings... watch this space!