Magma Pop is a virtual game that helps students learn about Earth’s most common minerals and the processes that happen in a magma chamber. The science behind the game is loosely based on Bowen’s reaction series – a geological concept that explains the temperatures at which minerals crystallise from cooling magma.
The graphics design of the game is a simple visual representation of how scientists interpret actual magma chambers. It is designed to be interactive and repetitive to help students memorise the elements that form the most common minerals. The aim of the game is for students to combine ions in a magma chamber to form minerals that we commonly find in volcanic rocks.
The game has three levels:
- Magma Academy – learn how to form minerals from elements in the magma.
- Mineral Collector – create and collect minerals from magma. This level introduces minerals in the magma chamber.
- Magma Crystallizer – as the magma cools, different minerals form, and the magma type changes from basalt to andesite to rhyolite. This level introduces factors related to a magma type – temperature and concentration – and features an unpredictable volcano!
The virtual game is supported by student handouts for intermediate level students (years 7–10) and senior students (years 11–13). The intermediate level has a focus on the elements and minerals that make up rocks and volcanoes, with a brief discussion about temperature. The senior level goes into more depth about the composition of magma chambers and the role of temperature on mineral crystallisation.
In this activity, students use a virtual game to group elements in a magma chamber to form Earth’s most common minerals.
By the end of this activity, students should be able to:
- discuss the differences between an element and a mineral
- list some of the most common elements and minerals within a magma chamber
- talk about how elements (ions) combine to form different minerals as a magma reservoir cools
- observe and discuss how these ions float in magma and during cooling combine to form minerals and igneous rocks
- observe and discuss the changing compositions of the remaining liquid magma during crystallisation
- discuss how different minerals are formed at different temperatures.
Download the Word file (see link below).
Download Magma Pop – game guide (see link below).
Related content
Learn more about volcanic processes:
- Types of volcanoes
- Types of volcanic rock
- Magma on the move
- Exploring magma formation
- Volcanology methods
- Plate tectonics, volcanoes and earthquakes
Activity ideas
Learn more about volcanic rocks:
- Identifying volcanic rocks – use information from a video to match the chemical composition and type of volcanic eruption each rock is associated with.
- Lost – a hot rock – become an igneous rock detective.
- Making lava fudge – use different combinations of ingredients to model the different proportions of minerals in basalt, andesite and rhyolite rocks.
- Tsunamis in the sandpit – explore the effects of an expanding magma chamber and how landslides from stratocone volcanoes can generate tsunami waves.
Useful link
Use this link to access Magma Pop.
Acknowledgement
Magma Pop was developed by UC Product Design and the University of Canterbury School of Earth and Environment students and lecturers – particularly Nikita Harris, Simon Hoerman, Sriparna Saha, Alex Nichols and Ben Kennedy.
Kathleen Sibuea and Ben Kennedy worked with Science Learning Hub on the accompanying materials. The project was in part supported by MBIE Endeavour project Beneath the Waves and ECLIPSE run in association with GNS Science.
