Imagine how much heat you’d need to melt cheese. You’d need more to melt rubber. You’d need a whole lot more to melt rock. Can you believe there’s melted rock under your feet? This melted rock is called magma. It doesn’t burn the soles off your shoes because it’s so deep in the earth. If it comes to the surface and spills out, it will get a new name: lava. People who live in the Pacific Ring of Fire must be prepared for eruptions, lava flows, and all the ash that comes with them.

You can find 75 percent of the world’s volcanoes in the Ring of Fire. To follow the Ring of Fire, start at the southern tip of South America. Move up the coast of North America, across the Bering Strait, and down through Japan. Travel along New Zealand, and end in Antarctica. You will pass more than 400 volcanoes along the way!