The purpose of this module is to teach the students what volcanoes are and how they form an island or an island chain like the Galapagos Islands. To do so they will travel in the virtual field trip and use observations to learn about tectonic plates, their boundaries, mantle plumes, the structure of volcanoes, and how this relates to the formation of islands. This module will lead to the discovery that the islands are formed in a chain so older islands will be to the east and newer ones to the west.

How did the Galapagos land and marine iguanas diverge from the South American green iguanas?

In this unit students will be learning what currents are and what they do to affect the plants, animals, and the islands. More specifically they will learn what climate is and how currents affect climate, how animals use currents to travel, how currents bring food/nutrients to the islands, and how scientists use tools to measure currents and the climate. This will be done using a virtual field trip and supplemental materials that incorporate all types of activities and assessments. This will lead to the discovery that the currents must have pushed the iguanas to the Galapagos when they were floating from South America

How can a species become threatened?

In this unit the students will be learning about how volcanoes form islands, vegetation and animal life begin on those islands, the process by which islands become eroded and shrink, and then eventually sink back into the ocean. Specifically they will learn about how animals and plants inhabit an island, how erosion works, what an ecosystem is, how volcanoes form islands through cooling lava, and what a seamount is. This is an important module for the mystery because this will lead to the discovery that many years ago there were other islands in the Galapagos chain where evolutionarily older animals once existed but those are now underwater.