Hawaiʻi’s iconic volcanoes have shaped its islands, culture, and communities for centuries. From the breathtaking eruptions of Mauna Loa to the challenges of living with air pollution caused by the eruptions (known as “vog”), volcanic activity is an intrinsic part of life in Hawaiʻi. What if students could harness computational tools to better understand volcanic activity while connecting deeply with their Indigenous history?
Aerial footage of the Northeast Rift Zone eruption of Mauna Loa captured the morning of December 1, 2022. USGS.
The Pelehonuamea (Pele) Project, funded by the National Science Foundation’s Computer Science for All program, plans to do just that. By weaving Indigenous Hawaiian knowledge with computational geoscience, we hope to transform how students learn about volcanism, hazard mitigation, and the role of computer science in solving real-world problems. Through a co-design process that centers Indigenous Hawaiian middle school students, we aim to connect our interactive curriculum materials to Hawaiian historical and lived knowledge about volcanic eruptions. Student-led ethnographic studies will gather stories from community members that will be integrated with simulations, block coding, and other tools to build a locally relevant, culturally enriched curriculum that meets Hawaii’s ambitious computer science education goals.
Integrating Indigenous Hawaiian knowledge with computational geoscience
Hawaiian oral traditions, including stories, chants, and historical accounts from Hawaiian-language newspapers, provide rich insights into historical Hawaiian volcanic eruptions. Recently, Western and Indigenous scientists have worked together to combine traditional knowledge with relatively more recent Western scientific understanding of Hawaiian volcanism. By sharing stories and perspectives, both communities are learning more about the knowledge embedded in Hawaiian oral histories that enhances our understanding of the past and provides interesting paths towards new scientific investigations.
The Pele Project will model student classroom learning on this shared approach by integrating Indigenous Hawaiian knowledge with Western scientific knowledge and practices. Our goal is for students to fully engage their identities and values and link their sense of self and place with their scientific and computational investigations.
The Pele Project builds on a strong research-practice partnership (RPP) that includes teachers, students, and the principal at Waimea Middle School; researchers from Utah State University and Teachers College at Columbia University; scientists from the University of Hawaiʻi; and curriculum and technology development experts at the Concord Consortium.
The project emphasizes a participatory approach, with students playing an active role in shaping the curriculum. For example, at the start of the project, students will conduct ethnographic studies in their community to gather stories from friends and family members about their past experiences with volcanic eruptions and hazards. Students will then be invited to attend a summer workshop to share their ethnographic studies with the team. They will also help incorporate these stories into the learning materials and provide feedback on using the LavaCoder. The RPP will ensure that the curriculum is culturally relevant and grounded in the community’s needs, using a sustainable co-design model that can be expanded to other schools across Hawaiʻi.
Promoting computational thinking and computer science skills
The Hawaiian Department of Education’s initiative to include computational thinking and computer science in middle school curriculum inspired the Pele Project. Through the project materials, students will learn block-based coding to create computational models, analyze data, and visualize simulated lava flow. The Concord Consortium will build a block-code based model called the LavaCoder that translates scientific-grade professional numerical models of lava flows to allow students to simulate eruptions. LavaCoder will be embedded in a curriculum module and be connected to the ethnographic studies created by the students. Students will use block code to set initial conditions of an eruption, adjusting values for eruption rates, total volume erupted, viscosity of magma, and vent locations in order to explore the potential hazards and risks of the Mauna Loa volcano on surrounding communities.
USGS map of Mauna Loa Volcano
The curriculum module will be designed to meet Hawai’i’s computer science standards and foster students’ STEM identities. This hands-on coding experience will prepare students for further study of computer science. The module will also introduce them to related careers in geoscience, urban planning, and hazard mitigation while enhancing their problem-solving, data analysis, and computer science and computational thinking abilities and skills.
Addressing equity in STEM education
The Pele Project is not just about understanding volcanoes—it’s about empowering the next generation of Hawaiian students to see themselves as capable and belonging in the STEM community. With only 16% of Hawaiian students currently enrolled in computer science courses, the Pele Project addresses a critical need for equitable STEM education. In our partner middle school, 63% of students identify as Indigenous Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. The school’s focus on Hawaiian culture, language, and community aligns with the project’s goals.
By embedding computational science into geoscience curricula, the Pele Project provides Hawaiian students with an engaging introduction to the tools and skills they will need to pursue potential careers in a range of STEM fields including geospatial analysis, hazard mitigation, and more. Over the course of the project, research will be conducted to measure changes in students’ computational and geoscience learning and interest, science content knowledge, and the development of their sense of agency and educational relevance during the co-design process.