Students learn about effects of eruption on animals through a cooperative learning activity.
They utilize the information they gather to compare and contrast conditions before and after the May 18 eruption at Mount St. Helens. To synthesize their learning, they apply what they have learned to writing an original story about the eruption's effects from an animal's point of view. Ask students to consider what effects the eruption must have had on their lives. Discuss with students the interrelatedness of animal life, and the potential for new revelations about the web of life that has resulted from the Mount St. Helens eruption. Invite students to list other events which significantly impact wildlife, including manmade disturbances.