Types of Volcanoes
by Ms. Batis-Szyszkowski’s class
Haskell STEAM Songbook

May be sung to the tune of “Happy” by Pharrell Williams

There are three volcanoes you ought to know
With lava up above and magma down below
If it’s active it’s erupting today
When you see the lava, better run away

Cinder cones are the smallest ones with the cinders piling up you know
Shield volcanoes are the biggest kind, make the Hawaiian islands grow
Keep an eye on an old composite, ‘cause sometimes those will blow
And if you want to see a lot of volcanoes then the ring of fire’s where to go

If it hasn’t erupted for a few years
Then we say it’s dormant so there’s nothing to fear
But sometimes the dormancy is just a fake
You think it’s sleeping but suddenly it’s wide awake!

Cinder cones are the smallest ones with the cinders piling up you know
Shield volcanoes are the biggest kind, make the Hawaiian islands grow
Keep an eye on an old composite, ‘cause sometimes those will blow
And if you want to see a lot of volcanoes then the ring of fire’s where to go

If it hasn’t erupted in a long time
A few thousand years, figure it’s fine
You could say that volcano’s extinct
But beware, sometimes it’s not as dead as you think!

Cinder cones are the smallest ones with the cinders piling up you know
Shield volcanoes are the biggest kind, make the Hawaiian islands grow
Keep an eye on an old composite, ‘cause sometimes those will blow
And if you want to see a lot of volcanoes then the ring of fire’s where to go

Notes

How does this help the kids learn? Numerous studies (Howard Gardner, Nick Page, Kaori Iwai, Greg Crowther, many others) show that integrating the arts into academic instruction enhances memory, motivation, and comprehension of the material we need our students to learn. This also fits with several thousand years of human experience: all of our oldest stories (Iliad, Beowulf, Gilgamesh, etc.) were shared and remembered as songs long before ordinary people had access to books. Although our songs are intended to be fun to hear and to sing, our music serves a serious purpose; and evidence shows that it really works.