How Do Volcanoes Shape the Earth’s Surface?

Imagine a giant oven baking lava from deep inside the Earth. When it erupts, it spews out molten rock that cools and forms new land, like when you pour hot chocolate into a cup and it hardens around the sides.

Volcanoes are like cracks in the Earth’s skin. Magma from deep inside the planet rises up through these cracks, and when it reaches the surface, it becomes lava. As lava cools, it turns into rock, creating new land or changing the shape of old ones.

Some volcanoes are tall and pointed like cones, while others spread out wide like pancakes, each type changes the Earth in a different way.