Our Active Planet - Geography February 2021

Date: 5th Mar 2021 @ 12:32pm

In Geography, our unit for this term has been ‘Active planet'. We used our prior knowledge of the continents and oceans to understand what tectonic plates are and where their plate boundaries are. We found out how most of the world’s volcanic and seismic activity takes place along these lines.

We first focused on key volcanic regions: Iceland, Italy and the Pacific Ring of Fire. We located them on maps, and found out about the main volcanoes in each region. We learnt how volcanoes are formed and behave. We even made our own 3D models of volcanoes are recreated an eruption by mixing vinegar and bicarbonate of soda. It was great fun and some were very explosive! Initially, we did not think anyone would choose to live near a volcano but after investigating this further, we actually discover that there are many benefits! We were really excited when Mount Etna in Italy began to erupt as we were learning about it so we wrote and recorded our own news reports about the events as they took place!

We then found out about tsunamis and earthquakes; what causes them, their devastating effects and the areas of the world that are most prone to them. We researched the 2004 Indonesian tsunami and were shocked to see how many countries it effected and how many lives were sadly lost as a result. We created our own earthquake and tsunami information posters.

In literacy, we read ‘I Wonder Why Volcanoes Blow their Tops?’. We created non-chronological reports in the form of leaflets and mini information booklets describing natural disasters.

In art, we learnt about the famous Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai and enjoyed recreating our own versions of ‘The Great Wave of Kanagawa.’