Year 3 - Geography

Introduction

At Eastfield we aim for our children to develop an understanding and curiosity for the world. We use Collins Connected Geography scheme to ensure children receive a structured but ambitious curriculum. Vocabulary and talk play a central role within geography teaching and learning so our pupils' can talk like geographers.

Beyond the Magic Kingdom: what is the Sunshine State really like?

Introduction:

Understand the physical and human features of the contrasting region of Florida in North America.

Keywords we used:

Climate; Tourism; Peninsula; Pollution; Hurricane; Sub-tropical; Temperature

Children learnt what the Magic kingdom is and identified it on a map. We even planned a route around the Magic Kingdom park!

Children then looked at tourists that visited the magic Kingdom and looked at tourists figures. They found that the most tourists were from USA, Brazil then the United Kingdom. This then led into learning about standard of living. We learnt that the more money people earn, the longer they live, the better they are educated and the higher or better is their quality of life.

Children then explored the word peninsula. Children learn that Florida is a peninsula and then identified other peninsulas around the world.

Next, we learnt about the Kennedy Space Centre, where all American space flights have been launched since 1968, and which is located in Florida! We discussed why the Kennedy Space Centre is located on the east coast of Florida.

We explored the differences in climate between the United Kingdom and Florida. Children used a variety of graphs to compare the climate of both locations. We found that Florida is very warm all year round and has much longer hours of sunshine each day on average than the UK, because Florida is closer to the Equator.

We finished off our unit by learning about hurricanes, as they are very common in the Sunshine State. Did you know that Florida may be hit by 5 or more hurricanes or tropical storms each year? Children thought about the impacts of hurricanes on the area and people's lives. We now know what to do in the event of a hurricane!

Why do so many people in the world live in megacities?

Overall aim:

Develop understanding of the important geographical concepts of settlement and urbanisation through the study of the world's megacities.

Keywords we used:

City Megacity Population Density Pollution Migration Favela Employment

We began our unit by locating the top ten largest megacities in the world on maps. We found that the majority of the megacities are found in Asia, however there aren't any in the continent of Oceania!

Next, we explored the city of Baghdad, as this was the first city in the world to reach a population of one million people! We looked carefully at resources to try to imagine what it would be like living in Baghdad in AD 900.

We spent our next lesson looking at places a little closer to home as we explored towns and cities across the United Kingdom. We now know that the United Kingdom is made up of Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England. It was suprising to find out that Milton Keynes had had the largest population growth since 2001. We learnt that many people have moved to Milton Keynes for employment. There are lots of businesses located in Milton Keynes which means that lots of jobs are available.

Why do some earthquakes cause more damage than others?

Overall aim:

Understand what creates an earthquake and the factors which determine the number of deaths band level of destruction they are likely to cause.

Keywords we used:

Earthquake, epicentre, Richter Scale, Tectonic plate, crust, mantle, core, volcano, fault

Ancillary Question:

Why don't Paula and Richard forget 22 February 2011?

Today, we learnt all about two people (Paula and Richard) who were going on an adventure to New Zealand. However, when they arrived the city of Christchurch had been hit by an awful earthquake that caused devastation across the city.

As a class, we listened to a letter written by Paula herself and looked at photos that Richard had taken of the aftermath of the earthquake. We were shocked to see how much destruction an earthquake can cause! This led us to ask, "What causes an earthquake to happen?"

Ancillary Question:

How has New Zealand been affected by earthquakes in the past?

Today we learnt that earthquakes occur regularly through New Zealand in both the North and South islands.

We then studied a table of data all about earthquakes...

We then explored what each part of the table of telling us and what it meant...

Epicentre

The location or place on the Earth's surface directly above where an earthquake happens as the rocks move below.

Magnitude on the Richter Scale

Magnitude is the size or power of an earthquake, which is measured on something called the Richter scale. It is measured using number 1-10. The higher the number on the Richter scale, the worse the earthquake is!

We then used a variety of maps and tables to locate different earthquakes that had occured in New Zealand since 1848. All of these earthquakes had scored more than 6 on the Richter scale. Many smaller earthquakes had occurred but were not recorded on this table!

Take a look at our fantastic map work below...

Ancillary Question:

Why does New Zealand have so many earthquakes?

First, we looked at this map of the world. All of the green dots represented where different earthquakes have happened across the world.

Today, we explored why New Zealand has so many earthquakes.

As you can see on the map above, it is impossible to see the outline of New Zealand as it's completely covered with earthquake location symbols.

We then looked at this different map.

We discovered that the red lines shows the different plates across the world.

The Earth's crust is broken up into huge blocks called plates - rather like the shell of a hard-boiled egg when it is tapped with a spoon.

So why does New Zealand have so many earthquakes?

New Zealand sits right on top of the crack between one plate and another.

Earthquakes tend to occur mostly along the cracks or boundaries all around the world where one plates meets another.

Watch this video to find out more about how earhquakes happen!

Have a look at our explanations of how earthquakes happen below...

Ancillary Question:

Why don't the largest earthquakes always cause the most death and destruction?

Today, we explored the Richter scale to understand a bit more about the power of earthquakes across the world. We found out that the higher the score on the Richter scale the more powerful the earthquake was. However, this did not mean that it always caused the most damage to people. Let's take a look at some of the reasons why...

Where it happens...

A magnitude 7.5 earthquake occurring below a city will probable do more damage than a 7.5 earthquake occurring in the middle of an ocean or somewhere where there are few people living.

What time it happens...

The time that an earthquake happens can also have an influence. If it happens at night when everyone is at home then the result can be more serious than say, it it occurred during the middle of the day.

How rich or poor the country is...

Rich countries tend to suffer less from similar- sized earthquakes than poorer ones. This is because they can afford to design and construct buildings that are stronger and can resist the shaking caused by earthquakes. Poorer countries may only be able to afford cheaper and weaker building materials.

We then looked at two earthquakes of similar magnitude that happened in two countries...

One in Haiti which is an extremely poor country.

In Haiti the damage was devastating and caused over 220 000 deaths and the country was destroyed.

And one in Chili which is a rich country.

In Chili, they were prepared for earthquakes and had stronger buildings, there were 525 deaths! Many of the buildings survived the earthquake!

We then designed our own poster comparing the earthquakes that had hit both countries.

What an amazing year we have had in Geography!

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