Mountains & Volcanoes

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Learning About Allah's Creation: Mountains & Volcanoes

This is a subject that many kids find fascinating and which you can take in various different directions according to their interests.  Below are listed the lessons we are doing and the resources we used with each one, along with instructions and suggestions for topics to cover, but obviously you can use all this gathered information as you wish.  These lessons were for 7-9 years old kids, but again all these resources could easily be used with much older children - you would just go into far more detail and expect them to retain far more technical information as you go.

Lessons posted so far:

Lesson 1: Introduction to Mountains

Lesson 2: Types of Mountain (includes a brief explanation of plate tectonics)

Lesson 3: Mountain topography & climate (including a discussion of rain shadows)

Lesson 4: Mountain Flora & Fauna

Lesson 5: Mountain Peoples

Lesson 6: Life in the Alps

Lesson 1: Introduction to Mountains

You can view & download the lesson sheet here.  We used a blank map which was labelled and coloured in according to the instructions.  This was glued into an A4 size project book (easily bought or else you can easily make your own).

Some points to discuss, perhaps, as they find each mountain range (if they are not marked in your atlas, then a search on Wikipedia will let you know where they are on a world map):  

• • The Himalayas are the highest mountains in the world, and in fact all the land behind them is extremely high (the Tibetan plateau), and the mountain systems that then connect behind it, such as the Tian Sian and so on.

  • The Appennines are worth noting due to the historical impact and significance of the Roman Empire in the past.  Flagging up Italy as a country of interest will also prepare them for the discussion on Vesuvius when they learn about 'famous volcanic eruptions' later.

  • The Alps are significant not just because many of us are teaching in Europe and they are amongst the highest European peaks (after the Caucasus), but also if you study the history of mountaineering (which may well be a result or 'offshoot topic' of these classes) then the Alps are hugely important in that history.

  • The Atlas are amongst the most well known mountains in the Muslim world, perhaps, given that the span the countries of Morrocco, Algeria and Tunisia.  They and the Himalayas will, in a later lesson, provide excellent examples of how mountain ranges can affect where rain falls - with a wet and fertile land on one side and a desert on the other.

  • The Hoggar (in the middle of the Sahara) are both deeply weird (very cold mountain temperatures in the middle of the blazing hot Sahara!) but also very old and you can find beautiful pictures of the rock formations there online.

  • Similarly the Ethiopian Highlands (or 'The Roof of Africa') are very well known.  The Blue Nile begins in these mountains - one of the two main tributaries to the famous Nile itself.  The Great Rift Valley here was till recently thought to connect to the East African Rift Valley - one long geological feature from Madagascar all the way to Syria!

  • The Urals in Russia, while not the highest or most prominent of mountain ranges, are rich in minerals and have been a huge source of wealth for Russia.

  • The Rockies and Andes extend the entire length of the western coast of the Americas, and are also highly volcanic (as will be seen in later lessons).

  • The next lesson will involve a discussion on tectonic plates and how some mountains are caused by the collision of plates: the Alps, Caucasus and Himalayas are all examples of that.

We also read through this excellent page here: http://www.chiddingstone.kent.sch.uk/homework/mountains.htm  This is one of a series of pages all to do with mountains & volcanoes all of which will be used as a resource throughout these lessons.  Based on this page we also drew and labelled some pictures of mountains - one to show the different terms (peaks, ridges, summit, gorge) and another to show the kind of topography (trees on lower slopes, treeline, bare rock above the tree line, snowy cap and glaciers).  These were glued into the workbook along with some sentences that explained the basics of what we had studied during the lesson.  You can view &/or download some examples here - either to copy or print out and use yourself.

Lesson 2: Types of mountains.

Again, the homework site for Woodlands Junior School made up some of the basis of the lesson.  This time it was used as a guide/lesson plan for the teacher, rather than being read by the children.  http://www.chiddingstone.kent.sch.uk/homework/mountains/types.htm

Instead the children watched some excellent YouTube videos, with pauses for explanations where needed.  Some of these might seem a little technical for younger ones (though not excessively so), but the basic points were got across which are:

• • The crust of the earth is broken up into plates.

  • These plates move (and you can discuss convection, especially if the child already knows the principle of how hot air rises and falls as it cools, and also of ocean currents - that warm water rises and moves and cold water sinks - since it is exactly the same scientific principle at work).

  • When they crash into each other they cause mountains and/or volcanoes.

http://youtu.be/ryrXAGY1dmE - short excerpt that shows how heat below the crust convects and thus either pulls plates apart or pushes them together.

http://youtu.be/JmC-vjQGSNM - excellent 10 minute video that explains everything very clearly.  Some parts are a little technical and can be glossed over for younger pupils.

Fold mountains: We did an experiment with four towels, laid one on top of the other.  Two children slowly and gently pushed from either side and so the towels began to buckle and bend.  From the side you could clearly see the different layers of towels all bent and twisted up.  

The children were each given a print out of this image resource, which gave them clear photos of each type of mountain under discussion which they cut out and glued into their workbooks along with paragraphs describing the kinds of mountains, the basics of plate tectonics and so on.  They also drew some simple diagrams to explain how folding of rocks happens, and also how a dome mountain is formed [you can view/download some examples here].  You could also instead get them to copy the black & white line images from the Woodlands Junior School site linked above.

[It is worth pointing out that, with the discussion of plate movement and also of faults, you could branch out now or later and look at earthquakes as a separate subject linked to this one.  As the second video mentions, where plates meet there are earthquakes, not just mountains and volcanoes]

Lesson 3: Mountain Topography and Climate

The aim in this lesson was to discuss both what the weather and temperature can be like on a mountain as well as how they can affect the climate of the landmasses around them, and in particular, the phenomenon known as a 'rain shadow'.

The lesson we prepared can be viewed & downloaded from here.  The diagram of the rain shadow was copied out and redrawn by hand by those doing the lesson, though younger children could of course just cut and paste it into their workbook, along with paragraphs and sentences summarised what had been discussed, read and learnt during the lesson.  A blank map of the British Isles has been included in this download so that the child can then also draw on and colour in the relevant parts to describe the rain shadow in the UK (instructions are included in the lesson), as well as several satellite pictures of rain shadows round the world.

Lesson 4: Mountain Flora & Flora

This lesson actually very neatly divides into two, and there is enough to discuss and teach that you might find it easier to do this as two lessons rather than one.  This lesson moves on from what was learnt last lesson (that the altitude of mountains affects the temperature and oxygen levels) to make that point that this, therefore, will also affect the kind of things that can live on mountains, no matter where in the world those mountains are.  The lesson can be viewed & downloaded from here.

We also looked up some examples of broad-leaved trees to compare and contrast with the conifers discussed in the lesson.  If it is the right time of year, then you could even go for a walk to your local park to pick leaves to stick in the workbook alongside the pictures of conifer leaves.  We had no leaves available, so the pupil drew copied them out and drew three different kinds instead.  Another suggestion might be, as a linked side-project, to learn about trees local to your area - their overall shape, the shapes of the leaves and any fruit/nuts they produce.  If it is autumn you could collect examples of the different leaves, and see if the child can identify different species, or whether it is a conifer or broad-leaved tree and so on

The lesson download also includes links to a series of videos of the animals discussed in the lesson.  Of course you could easily choose your own animals to learn about instead, or add to the few examples given, especially if the pupil seems keen to learn about it!

Lesson 5: Mountain Peoples

This lesson takes the examples of two races of people who have lived on mountains for generations and whose lives are very specialised and adapted to that life: the people of the Andes and Sherpa in the Himalayas.  A bit of history of the Incas is also included (since most modern-day Andean people are descended from them, many farming practices date from the Inca and also the wealth mined from the mountains - an important geographical & geological point about mountains - when the Spanish conquered South America made the Spanish Empire very rich indeed).  You can view & download the lesson from here.

Possible side-projects stemming from this lesson could include: mining practices and how precious metals are derived from an ore; what things copper, iron, tin and so on are used for in the modern world; the geological processes that mean the Andes are so rich in precious metals (perhaps one for older students who have an interest in chemistry); where else in the world 'terracing' is used as a farming practice (e.g. rice paddy fields in the far east); a more detailed discussion on mountaineering (though this will be a separate lesson at a later point - possibly lesson 7 or 8); life on the Tibetan plateau, which even though it is not mountainous is at such a high altitude that life is much the same as it is for those who live in the Himalayas - so that could include how they rely heavily on horses, live in yurts and so on.

Lesson 6: Life in the Alps

Following on from lesson 5, this lesson looks at the traditional way of life in the Alps, while also using the opportunity to learn some European geography (where the Alps are, what countries they are in) as well as the fact that the rainfall on mountains is the major source of the world's rivers (and also learn where the Rhone, Rhine, Po and Danube are).  The lesson looks at mountain passes and why they are important.  Older students could investigate this as a separate topic in more detail, perhaps, with discussions on why passes have important to people even in the past, how they have changed with modernisation of roads, and perhaps a detailed look at the Mont Blanc tunnel, etc.

The lesson then discusses transhumance (when livestock is moved to higher altitudes for summer) and the importance, therefore, of cheesemaking in Alpine tradition (another whole subject opportunity there: foods of the Alps or cheeses of Europe?).

The lesson ends with a mention of how the Alps are used today by tourists, the kinds of activities enjoyed winter and summer and the importance of tourism to the local economy (again, older students could go into quite detailed project work on all this).  There is also a brief explanation of the problems this can cause - erosion, pollution, crowding, etc.  The lesson mentions that this is a problem on many mountains, even on Everest, and again older students might benefit from a more detailed analysis/discussion of the problems.  Here a few links to recent articles about the issues regarding overcrowding and rubbish pollution on Everest which might be useful for older pupils:

Overcrowding on Everest (The Guardian, May 2012)

Despite overcrowding and deaths, people still insist on climbing Everest: why might that be? (The BBC, May 2012)

The Himalayas are in danger of becoming a huge rubbish dump (The Guardian, Sept. 2011)

Clean-up of the Himalayas is urgently needed (The Guardian, Oct. 2011)

You can download lesson 6, which includes colour pictures that can be cut out and used in a project/glued into a workbook, from HERE.