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Listen to Book 12: The Volcano Expedition

All 150 answers from Book 12, read aloud. Press play and keep listening, or tap a question to jump to it. Each title links to its page with the video and the full answer.

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1.Why Is Earth’s Inside So Hot?
2.How Can Scientists Tell Whether a Rock Was Once Magma or Lava?
3.Why Does Lava Glow?
4.Why Does Some Lava Move Fast and Some Crawl?
5.Why Does Pahoehoe Lava Look Ropy?
6.Why Does Aa Lava Look Spiky?
7.Why Do Lava Tubes Form?
8.What Is a Caldera?
9.Why Do Eruptions Make Tall Umbrella-Shaped Ash Clouds?
10.What Is Pumice, the Rock Full of Bubbles?
11.Why Is Obsidian So Glassy?
12.Why Do Volcanoes Smell Like Rotten Eggs Sometimes?
13.Why Does Lava Harden Into Different Rocks?
14.Why Do Cinder Cones Look Like Sand Piles?
15.What Makes a Volcano Go Dormant or Extinct?
16.What Was the Biggest Eruption People Have Ever Recorded?
17.Why Is Magma Full of Bubbles?
18.How Do Geologists Measure How Big an Eruption Is?
19.Why Does Lava Crust Over While Still Moving?
20.Why Do Volcanoes Make Lightning in Ash Clouds?
21.Why Is Fresh Lava Dangerous Long After It Stops Glowing?
22.Why Do Scientists Wear Special Suits Near Lava?
23.Why Does Cooling Lava Crack?
24.Why Do Volcanic Bombs Exist?
25.Why Do People Study Ash Layers in Soil?
26.Why Does Earth Have Thousands of Tiny Earthquakes Every Day That We Never Feel?
27.Why Does the Ground Wave in a Quake?
28.How Do We Measure How Strong an Earthquake Is?
29.Why Do We Feel Aftershocks?
30.Why Do Seismographs Draw Squiggles?
31.Why Can Sensors Feel Earthquakes That People Can’t?
32.Why Does Shaking Feel Worse on Soft Soil?
33.Why Do Buildings Get Special Earthquake Designs?
34.Why Should You Drop, Cover, and Hold On?
35.Why Do Tsunamis Follow Some Undersea Quakes?
36.Why Is “Tidal Wave” a Misleading Name?
37.Why Do Animals Sometimes Act Odd Before Quakes?
38.Why Can’t We Predict Exact Quake Times Yet?
39.Why Do Transform Faults Slide Sideways?
40.Why Do Normal Faults Drop Blocks Down?
41.Why Do Reverse Faults Shove Rock Up?
42.Why Is the “Ring of Fire” So Quake-Y?
43.Can People Cause Small Earthquakes?
44.Why Do Old Brick Buildings Crack in Earthquakes While Wooden Houses Bend?
45.Why Do Bridges Need Expansion and Motion Joints?
46.Why Do Emergency Kits Include Shoes By the Bed?
47.Why Do Grown-Ups Learn Where the Gas Shutoff Is?
48.Why Are Some Earthquakes Deep Underground and Others Close to the Surface?
49.Why Can Distant Quakes Still Make Chandeliers Wobble?
50.Why Do Scientists Love GPS for Quakes?
51.How Many Big Plates Does Earth Have, and Where Are They?
52.Why Is There a Mid-Atlantic Ridge?
53.How Did the Rocky Mountains Form?
54.How Fast Do Tectonic Plates Move?
55.Why Is Iceland So Volcanic?
56.Why Do Hotspots Make Island Chains?
57.Why Is the Mariana Trench So Deep?
58.Why Can You Find Seashells on Top of Mountains?
59.Why Do Matching Rock Belts Appear Across Oceans?
60.Why Is Seafloor Younger Near Ridges?
61.Why Are Some Rocks in Canada Billions of Years Old?
62.Why Does Mantle Rock Move If It’s Solid?
63.Why Do Rift Valleys Form?
64.Why Are There Volcanoes Near Trenches?
65.Why Do Continents Have Deep Roots?
66.Is Earth Shrinking as It Cools?
67.Why Do Magnetic Stripes Decorate Seafloors?
68.Why Do Plate Maps Look Like Jigsaw Puzzles?
69.How Do Scientists Know What Is Inside Earth When Nobody Has Ever Dug That Deep?
70.What Is a Microplate?
71.What Does the Word “Tectonic” Mean?
72.Why Do Some Earthquakes Happen Far Away From Plate Edges?
73.Why Does the Seafloor Get Recycled But the Continents Don’t?
74.Why Will Maps Look Different in 50 Million Years?
75.Why Do Plates Help Explain So Many Things About Earth?
76.Why Do Hot Springs Bubble Up in Banff and Yukon?
77.What Lives in Hot Springs That Would Be Too Hot for Most Animals?
78.Why Does a Coffee Percolator Work Like a Tiny Geyser?
79.Why Do Hot Springs Have Bright Colors?
80.Why Can You Cook Food in Some Hot Springs (Historically)?
81.Why Do Mud Pots Plop?
82.Why Do Fumaroles Hiss?
83.Why Is Geothermal Energy Useful?
84.Why Is the Water in Some Springs Warm But Not Boiling?
85.Why Do Black Smokers Exist on the Seafloor?
86.Why Do Strange Animals Live By Vents Without Sunlight?
87.Why Is Yellowstone Called a Supervolcano System?
88.Why Do Travertine Terraces Form?
89.Why Are Some Springs Blue Like Paint?
90.Why Must You Stay on Boardwalks in Geothermal Parks?
91.Why Do Minerals Color Rocks Red or Yellow Near Vents?
92.Why Do Volcanoes Create Fertile Soil Later?
93.Why Do People Bathe in Safe Hot Springs?
94.Why Does Steam From Hot Springs Look Bigger on Cold or Damp Days?
95.Why Do Sinter Terraces Look Different From Travertine?
96.Why Do Scientists Sample Spring Water Chemistry?
97.Why Does the Ground Stay the Same Temperature All Year a Few Meters Down?
98.Why Do Lava Fields Look Lifeless Then Bloom Later?
99.How Do Diamonds Come Up From Deep Inside Earth?
100.How Do Volcanic Landscapes Keep Changing?
101.Why Do Tiltmeters Watch Volcanoes?
102.Why Do Scientists Measure Volcano Gases?
103.Why Do Seismometers Listen for Magma Earthquakes?
104.Why Do Scientists Use Heat Cameras on Volcanoes?
105.Why Do Drones Help Volcanologists?
106.Why Do Ash Samples Get Studied Under Microscopes?
107.Why Are Hazard Maps Colorful?
108.Why Do Lahars Scare Scientists?
109.What Is a Volcano Observatory, and What Happens Inside It?
110.Why Do Volcanologists Sometimes Say “Restless”?
111.Why Do Past Eruption Deposits Guide Future Forecasts?
112.Why Is Volcano Tourism Guided Carefully?
113.Why Do Webcams Sit on Crater Rims?
114.How Can Microphones Hear Volcanoes From Far Away?
115.Why Do Rockfalls Not Always Mean Magma?
116.Why Do Some Volcanoes Erupt Again and Again for Years?
117.Why Do Airplanes Avoid Ash Clouds?
118.Why Do Volcanoes Exist on Other Planets and Moons?
119.Why Do Tree Rings Near Volcanoes Tell Stories?
120.How Can Ordinary People Help Scientists Measure Ash?
121.Why Do Labs Recreate Magma in Furnaces?
122.How Do Scientists Study a Volcano’s Crater Lake or Glacier?
123.Why Do Volcano Scientists Admit What They Don’t Know?
124.Why Do Museums Keep Eruption Artifacts?
125.What Jobs Study Volcanoes?
126.Why Do People Live Near Volcanoes Anyway?
127.Why Are Some Beaches Green?
128.Why Do Building Codes Matter in Lava Zones?
129.How Do Towns Near Volcanoes Keep Their Water Clean When Ash Falls?
130.Why Do Special Masks Help When Ash Is in the Air?
131.Why Is Heavy Wet Ash a Danger to Roofs?
132.Why Do Farmers Watch Wind Forecasts Around Vents?
133.Why Do Towns Near Volcanoes Paint Evacuation Signs Along Their Roads?
134.How Do Scientists Find Out When a Volcano Last Erupted?
135.Why Do Volcano Danger Zones Keep People Out?
136.Why Do Ships Care About Underwater Volcanoes?
137.How Do Towns Near Volcanoes Warn People Quickly?
138.Why Do Schools Teach Volcano Units in Risky Regions?
139.Why Does Staying Calm Help in an Emergency?
140.Why Do Pets and Farm Animals Need a Plan During an Eruption?
141.Why Do Artists and Scientists Both Love Volcanoes?
142.Why Do Sibling Volcanoes in a Chain Erupt Differently?
143.What Can Volcanic Rock Be Used for in Everyday Life?
144.Why Do Kids’ Questions Help Whole Towns?
145.Why Do Scientists Celebrate Quiet Years Too?
146.Why Will New Islands Keep Appearing Sometimes?
147.How Tall Can a Volcano Grow?
148.How Do Scientists Decide When to Warn People About a Volcano?
149.Why Can People Feel Hopeful Living Near Volcanoes?
150.Why Is Earth the Only Planet We Know with Moving Plates?

The audio is the sound from each video, so it includes soft background music.

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