03x03 - Hill of Fire

[bunniefuu]

♪ Reading rainbow ♪

♪ Butterfly in the sky ♪

♪ I can go twice as high ♪

♪ Take a look ♪

♪ It's in a book ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ I can go anywhere ♪

♪ Friends to know ♪

♪ And ways to grow ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ I can be anything ♪

♪ Take a look ♪

♪ It's in a book ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ Reading rainbow ♪

[Chanting in hawaiian]

Aloha.

Welcome to hawaii volcanoes
national park.

Have we got
a show for you!

I am standing near the top
of kilauea,

The world's
most active volcano.

As you can see,
she is really erupting!

This is
a rare opportunity

To experience nature
at her most powerful.

Consider its size.

I'm standing about 1/2 mile away
from that fountain.

It's spewing molten lava
roughly 1,100 feet in the air.

That's twice as tall
as any skyscraper you've seen.

I have never seen
anything like it.

It's just incredible!

Lava is really hot melted rock
that's pumped up 40 miles

Through tunnels
inside the earth.

Those tunnels
lie beneath volcanoes

Like this one.

Sometimes
flaming red rivers

Sweep through
forests and fields,

Smothering them under a blanket
of blistering ooze.

The lava is so hot,

It turns anything it touches
to fire.

Watch how fast it moves.

No matter where you go
in hawaii,

You're walking
on a volcano.

That's because
the hawaiian islands

Are really the tips
of giant volcanoes.

All this beauty--

The spiked cliffs,

Gouged out canyons,

Rivers and waterfalls,

Snow-cone mountains,

And black-sand beaches--

Is here
because of volcanoes.

Most of hawaii's volcanoes
are inactive,

But mauna loa and kilauea
are alive.

Even when
they're not erupting,

They let you know
they're cooking.

The earth is so hot
that when it rains,

The water seeps
through cracks

And boils into steam.

When it's ready,
the volcano erupts.

This is how kilauea
looked yesterday--

Getting ready to blow.

The lava is beginning
to leap out of the cone.

Volcanoes aren't born
very often,

But one was born
about 45 years ago in mexico.

That's what this true story,
hill of fire, is about.

[Bell rings]

There was a farmer
who lived in mexico

In a little village

In a house
with only one room.

The farmer
was not happy.

"Nothing ever happens,"
he said.

The village people
thought he was foolish.

"We have everything we need,"
they said.

"We have a school
and a market

And a church with a bell
that rings on sundays."

"But nothing ever happens,"
said the farmer.

Every morning for breakfast

He ate flat cakes
of ground corn.

He put honey
over the cakes

And drank cinnamon tea
from a clay mug.

"Nothing ever happens,"
he said.

It was still dark

When he got ready
to leave for the field.

His son, pablo,
was still asleep.

"Perhaps today," said his wife,
"something will happen."

"No," said the farmer,

"Nothing will."

Late in the morning,
when the sun was high,

Pablo came to the field.

"Pablo," said the farmer,

"Why are you
not in school?"

"There is
no school today, papa,"

Said pablo.

Pablo helped the farmer
plow the field.

The ox pulled, and the plow
turned up the soil.

Suddenly,
the plow stopped.

The farmer and his son pushed,
and the ox pulled,

T the plow did not move.

It sank into the earth.

It went down, down, down
into a little hole.

The little hole
became a bigger hole.

There was noise
deep under the ground

As if something big
had growled.

The farmer looked.

Pablo looked.

The ox turned its head.

White smoke came
from the hole in the ground.

There was a loud cr*ck,
and the earth opened wide.

The farmer, pablo,
and the ox ran.

The farmer ran
all the way to the village.

He ran inside the church
and rang the old bell.

The other farmers came
from their fields.

People came out
of their houses.

"Look!" Said the farmer.

That night,
no one slept.

Everyone watched
the fire in the sky.

It came from where
the farmer's field had been.

There was a loud boom

And another

And another.

Pieces of burning stone
flew in the air.

The earth was coughing.

Every time
it coughed,

The hill of fire
grew bigger.

In a few days, the hill
was as big as a mountain,

And every few minutes,
there was a loud boom.

Squirrels and rabbits ran.

People led their bulls
and oxen to safety.

Some of the people went close
to the steaming lava.

They carried big crosses.

They prayed for the fire
to stop.

When the booming stopped
and the fires grew smaller,

The farmer's house was gone.

The school and the market
were gone.

Half the village was gone.

One day, some men in uniform
came in cars and trucks.

"You are the one with the plow
that opened up the earth.

You're lucky to be alive."

The soldiers
looked at the village.

"Everyone must go,"
the captain said.

"It is not safe
to live here any longer."

All the people of the village
went with the soldiers.

The farmer found
a new house.

It was not far
from the old one,

But it was safe
from el monstruo, the monster.

That is the name

The people gave
to the great volcano.

The people made a new village,

Then made a new school
and a new market.

They had a great fiesta
because now they were safe.

Now the farmer
had a new field.

Every morning,
he woke up early.

It was still dark,

And el monstruo glowed
in the sky.

Sometimes pablo brought
the village children

To see the farmer.

They could see
the volcano smoking

Like an old man
smoking his pipe.

"Can you make
another hill of fire?"

The children said.

"No, my friends,"
said the farmer.

"One hill of fire
is enough for me."

In hill of fire, the town
was buried by volcanic rock.

Here on kilauea, this forest
was demolished by lava.

You could have climbed this tree
a year ago.

When kilauea erupted,
lava wrapped around these trees.

The bottom halves
b*rned up,

And the top branches
fell over and d*ed.

They call them lava trees.

The lava flow destroyed
almost an entire forest.

Over there are the lucky trees
that were spared.

P
scientists studying volcanoes,
volcanologists,

Use sophisticated tools
to try to predict eruptions.

Instruments like
this seismometer

Measure the forces
inside the earth.

If you looked
at this planet from outer space,

You'd never guess
what was underneath.

If you could cr*ck it open,
this is what you'd see.

Inside the earth is rock,

Which is divided
into the core,

The mantle, and the crust.

Under volcanoes,

Forces in the earth
heat the rock until it melts.

Melted rock
is called magma.

The magma rises into chambers

About a mile
beneath the earth's surface.

When they fill up,

Magma forces its way
through the volcano

Until the volcano explodes.

The magma, or lava,
pours out.

It runs down the mountain,

Coating its slopes
with new layers of rock.

When the eruption is over,

The magma sinks back
into the chambers.

In time,
wind, rain, and sun

Break down
the blanket of rock,

Turning it
into fertile soil.

Trees, plants, and animals
return to live there.

There are 600 active volcanoes
in the world.

Only three are in hawaii.

The rest are scattered
all over the earth.

It's unbelievable
how much lava can gush

From one volcano.

Look at this.

It's only just
one little spill.

There are two kinds
of lava--

A'a and pahoehoe.

This is pahoehoe,
the smoother of the two.

It dries in wrinkles
and curvy, snakelike formations.

It looks like rope.

Some pahoehoe flows have toes--
flat, round projections

That tiptoe ahead
of the rest of the pack.

A'a is rough and rubbly,
much chunkier than pahoehoe.

It's full of spiky fragments
called clinkers.

A'a can scratch your hand
or cut up the bottoms of boots.

Just listen
to how it sounds.

[Crackle]

It sounds really neat,
doesn't it?

Look at this over here.

These golden threads
are called pele's hair.

They're named after
the hawaiian goddess of fire.

They're fragments of lava

That the wind has stretched out
and cooled in the air.

This lava traveled miles
from the volcano's crater.

You can actually see
where the rivers of lava

Poured over that cliff
and snaked down through here.

When you look
at lava closely,

You can see
that it glistens.

It's full of colors
and shapes...textures.

Look at these pieces.

You see how shiny that is
on the surface?

Smooth to the touch.

When you turn it over
on its side,

See all those little holes
in there?

It's a lot rougher.

It's almost like sandpaper
or your cat's tongue.

Look at all these colors.

This one's got
gold and blue in it.

It's really beautiful.

No two pieces are alike.

Ooh, here's one here.

This one's got some red,
almost purple.

Lava isn't only
what you see on the surface.

Take a look at this.

These are called
lava drips.

They happen when the outside
gets cooled and hard,

But the inside
is still hot and dripping.

Kind of looks
like sculpture.

For hundreds of years,

Artists have been influenced
by this natural work of art.

Chu liong,
who lives on kilauea summit,

Uses the volcano
as inspiration

For his own
special kind of art.

[Chu liong]
living on the summit of kilauea

Is an inspiration
to my work.

One views lava rocks,

The colors of the rocks,
the formations,

The textures,
the surfaces.

Living in a forest,

One senses the quality
of the forest

And tries to transfer it
to the work.

The clay feels
very wonderful.

It's hard to describe
how it really feels.

It's like touching
the earth.

This particular series
that I'm working on

Is a series to me
symbolizing the volcano--

Living so closely
to the volcano

And creating a vessel
from earth

To depict the feeling
of the volcano.

The opening of the volcano

Is irregular
and not symmetrical.

I reflect that
in the opening of my vessels,

Whereas the rest of the piece
is quite perfect.

To contrast that perfection,

I create
a slight imperfection,

So then the piece
will feel more balance.

A piece is done

When it feels right
and looks right.

The glazing is a process

Where one views
the naked vessel

And almost asks
what it wants to wear.

All my glazes come
from the earth.

They're all earth minerals

That are combined
in different proportions

To give different textures
and surfaces and colors.

The kiln basically
fires the vessel.

It creates a temperature
hot enough to melt the glaze.

This particular process
that I'm using

Is called a raku process.

It takes three hours
to fire.

When the volcano is erupting,
there is a constant roar.

This roar
is just awesome and powerful.

As I am working,

I feel this power
coming through me.

I feel myself
getting stronger.

The most important thing
when we're working with anything

Is to find
enjoyment in it

And to express yourself

Through whatever it is
that we enjoy

And to refine it to a point
where it can express yourself

And our environment
and our planet.

Kilauea inspires chu liong.

But if what inspires you
is this book,

Here are some others
you might find hot.

You don't have to take
my word for it.

Hi. I'm here
to talk about a book

Which has your favorite
imaginary creatures

Called
emma's dragon hunt.

It's written
by catherine stock.

It's about
a girl named emma

And her grandfather wong
from china.

Grandfather wong
talked about dragons,

And emma got interested.

Her grandfather decided
to take her on a dragon hunt.

When a thunderstorm came,

Grandfather said it was dragons
clawing up clouds.

Grandfather said
a solar eclipse

Was a dragon
swallowing the sun.

You should read
this book

Because it has
delightful pictures.

I recommend it
to anyone

Who likes to use
their imagination.

My name's leo mcalistar.

If you like nature,

You'll love
these science flip books

By ed emberly.

They make still pictures
come to life.

You can see
how animals are growing

And flowers are changing.

My favorite flip book
was the one about the butterfly

Because you can see
the butterfly flying away

And the caterpillar
turning into a chrysalis.

I made
my own science flip book.

It's about a rose
that starts from a little plant

And then gets a bud
and grows up to be a big rose.

You should go out
and get these flip books.

They make you feel
that you're in nature.

This book, the tamarindo puppy,
is full of funny poems.

It is written
in spanish and english.

My favorite thing
about this book

Was the funny characters.

I liked the animals
in the poem firehouse.

I learned some new spanish words
in this book.

Mariposa means butterfly.

Gato gordo means fat cat.

The pictures
are funny and colorful,

Especially
the castle in the clouds.

It's got great poems.
This poem is called nada.

"Nada is nothing,
nothing at all.

If you trip on a nada,
you'll never fall."

I'm standing
with christina helinker.

She's a geologist

At hawaii volcanoes
national park.

Christina,
what's happening behind us?

You're seeing
the 31st phase

Of the continuing
eruption

On kilauea's
east rift zone.

It's been going on
since january, 1983.

This particular
eruption has gone on

For about


What are
the geologists doing?

We're observing

And trying to learn
as much as possible

About how
a volcano works

So we can
predict eruptions

And help get people
out of the way.

Why is
the ground so warm?

There's magma
beneath us.

This hill is a vent
from an earlier eruption

In this series.

This hill, about
a year and a half ago,

Looked just like that.

Have you ever
been scared at a volcano?

Yeah, but these
are safe eruptions.

We know what's
going to happen

And can get
out of the way.

The only thing
more spectacular

Than a volcano's ability
to destroy

Is its power to create.

Volcanic eruptions
keep the flow of life going,

For from the fires
of the earth

Come the very stuff
of which life is made.

See you next time.

[Chanting in hawaiian]

Today's reading rainbow
books are--

Hill of fire
by thomas p. Lewis,

Pictures by joan sandin,
published by harper & row.

Emma's dragon hunt
by catherine stock,

Published by
lothrop, lee & shepard books.

Ed emberly's
science flip books,

Published by
little, brown & co.

The tamarindo puppy
and other poems

By charlotte pomerantz,

Pictures by byron barton,
published by greenwillow books.