travel_exploreDiscovery · Planet Earth

🌍 Planet Earth

What is a volcano? Simple, true planet earth facts for young children, each with a fun fact, a tiny activity and a question to talk about together.

Tap a question to reveal the answer, share the fun fact, try the tiny activity, then talk about it together.

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What is a volcano? Revealexpand_more

A volcano is an opening in the Earth's surface where hot, melted rock from deep underground can burst out. That glowing rock is called lava, and when it cools it hardens into new rock, slowly building the mountain taller.

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Talk about itHow do you think people who live near a volcano feel about it?

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Did you know?Deep inside the Earth the rock is so hot that it flows like thick, glowing syrup.

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Try itPile up damp sand into a little mountain and imagine hot lava creeping down its sides. Which way would it flow first?

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🌍🫨What makes the ground shake?⛰️How are mountains made?🌐What is inside the Earth?

🤖Still curious?What is the difference between lava and magma?arrow_forward

schedule2 minstarMediumgroupTogether

What makes the ground shake? Revealexpand_more

The Earth's surface is cracked into giant pieces that fit together like a puzzle. These pieces move very slowly, and sometimes they get stuck and then suddenly slip, sending a shudder through the ground that we feel as an earthquake.

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Talk about itWhat would you do to stay safe if the ground started to shake?

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Did you know?Most earthquakes are so gentle that only special machines can notice them.

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Try itPush two books flat together on a table, then shove them past each other with a jolt. That sudden jump is like an earthquake.

Explore the map

🌍🌋What is a volcano?⛰️How are mountains made?🌐What is inside the Earth?

🤖Still curious?Can we tell when an earthquake is going to happen?arrow_forward

schedule2 minstarMediumgroupTogether

How are mountains made? Revealexpand_more

When two giant pieces of the Earth's surface push against each other, the land between them slowly crumples and folds upward, like a rug bunching when you push its ends. Over millions of years those wrinkles rise into tall mountains.

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Talk about itWould you rather climb a mountain or look at it from far away?

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Did you know?Mountains are still growing today, but so slowly that they rise about as fast as your fingernails.

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Try itPush a towel from both ends across a table and watch it fold into ridges. Those ridges are like tiny mountains.

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🌍🌋What is a volcano?🫨What makes the ground shake?🌐What is inside the Earth?

🤖Still curious?Why do the tallest mountains have snow on top?arrow_forward

schedule2 minstarMediumgroupTogether

What is inside the Earth? Revealexpand_more

If you could dig straight down for a very long way, you would pass through cool rock, then hot melted rock, and finally reach a giant ball of metal at the centre. That middle part is hotter than the surface of a fire.

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Talk about itIf you could take a safe trip to the centre of the Earth, would you go?

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Did you know?The very centre of the Earth is about as hot as the surface of the Sun.

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Try itCut an apple in half and look at the layers, skin, flesh and core. The Earth has layers a bit like that too.

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🌍🌋What is a volcano?⛰️How are mountains made?🌍What is gravity?

🤖Still curious?Why is the middle of the Earth so hot?arrow_forward

🌍 Planet Earth

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