The North American Continent

The World

• Locate the North American continent and use a political map to identify its countries and capital cities.

• Revise understanding of the Ring of Fire and use this knowledge to predict which parts of North America will be most susceptible to volcanic activity and earthquakes.

• Use and understand terminology such as focus, epicentre, seismic waves, magnitude, mainshock and aftershock when describing earthquakes and their impact.

• Understand that there are different types of earthquake: tectonic (the most common), volcanic, explosion and collapse.

• Understand and explain how a location’s proximity to the Ring of Fire has an impact on building design with a particular focus on the area of California.  

• Develop an understanding of the Mercalli scale and understand how this is used to measure the intensity of an earthquake by measuring its effect on people, the environment and the earth’s surface.

• Use four and six figure grid references to locate the impact of an earthquake on an area of California. 

• Use the Mercalli scale and witness statements to assess the impact of an earthquake on different parts of California.

• Study Yosemite Valley and Death Valley in the USA and compare these to Findon Valley, paying particular attention to the temperatures in each location and what impacts these.

• Understand and explain why the USA has such a large share of world trade.