Volcanoes & Mass Extinctions
Your child can explain how giant eruptions caused mass extinctions. Lava poured out for ages, heating the planet and souring the seas, until many species died out.
In curriculum terms
Explain how large igneous provinces (LIPs) — massive outpourings of lava over millions of years — caused global warming and ocean acidification that drove mass extinctions; connect the Siberian Traps to the end-Permian extinction and the Deccan Traps to the end-Cretaceous event; explore how hydrothermal vents on the early Earth may have been the cradle of life; understand volcanoes as both destroyers and creators in the history of life
Ages are typical, not deadlines — follow your child’s pace. How to help at home →
Try this together
Can your child explain how enormous volcanic eruptions millions of years ago may have triggered some of Earth's biggest mass extinctions — what's the chain of events from lava to species dying out?
Where this sits on the map
Stuck here? Check the skills it builds on first. Confident? Here’s what it unlocks.
solid = must come firstdashed = helps
Curriculum alignment
Where this fits in the official school curriculum — our best automated guess, not yet checked by a person.
This skill sits beyond Year 6 in the Australian Curriculum, so no F–6 code is matched. It also sits beyond the NSW K–6 syllabuses. It also sits beyond Level 6 in the Victorian Curriculum.