WHAT WOULD A VOLCANOLOGIST WEAR?

A volcanologist is a person who studies volcanoes.  They discover how volcanoes formed and spend a lot of time around active volcanoes to see if they might erupt any time soon.  As you can imagine this could be quite a dangerous job so we thought about what a volcanologist might wear to protect them?  Have a look at our ideas and if any volcanologists are reading please feel free to contact us should you wish to discuss our designs further!

4G if you recognise your drawing please ask an adult to help you leave a comment at the end giving only your first name and explaining which picture is yours - feel free to add as much detail as you wish!  

A very well preared volcanologist by Deniz!

SOME OF OUR WORK

It is always nice to share our work and show off how brilliant we are!  Look how much we have covered!  :)

Mount Vesuvius Fact file by Faezah

Tectonic Plates by Deniz

Comparing UK and Japan by Ahmed

Japanese Writing by Bella

Comparing UK and Japan by Ibrahim

 You can see some of the work here was comparing the UK and Japan.  We looked at many cultural differences but then thought about this in relation to our active planet.  Why do you think the UK and Japan are different when it comes to natural disasters?  We will give you a clue.  Japan is on the edge of a tectonic plate and the UK is not.  Maybe this news report can help.  Listen to the school girl Isabel and think if this would ever happen in the UK?

CBBC news report on Japanese Earthquake

JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH

4G wrote many adventure stories after learning about our active planet.  Here is another great piece of writing from Leila.

Journey to the centre of the Earth

by Leila

Hello, my name is Leila and I am about to tell you my story of how I got to the centre of the Earth.

I'm just an ordinary 9 year old but when I learnt about volcanoes in school I wanted to learn more about them. So I decided I was going to start my journey to the centre of the Earth!  I wasn't sure how, but I am confident and brave, big, strong and tough.

My super brainy, brilliant brother Brian was so clever and I knew he would help me.  I ran to his room. "Brian!"  I screamed in my high pitched, squeaky voice to make sure he would listen to me.  "Leave me alone, I'm doing my homework!" he said.  I wasn't in a hurry.

I went to my rom to design a suit for me and Patchy to wear in our spaceship type rocket.  Patchy is my dog.  I take him everywhere.  I designed him a silver coat with a red P on the front which stands for Patchy.  I turned my boring blue denim trousers into super silver ones which had pads inside to protect my legs.  Then with the leftover padding I turned one of my PE shirts into a protective top with a green L in the middle.  After that I went to find Brian but apparently he was out.

I went into his room.  What was that beautiful silver thing on the floor?  IT WAS A SUPER COOL ALIEN SPACE SHIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I grabbed it, I grabbed Patchy and ran into the garden.  Quick as a flash we were in our suits and ready to rock and roll.  Me and Patchy sat down in these super soft, cosy seats.  I rested my hands on a steering wheel and pressed some buttons and switched some switches.  Then we were off!

Firstly it was digging a hole.  Then we zoomed down, stones crashing, hitting and rattling against my Leilatron (thats what I've named my spaceship).  Patchy and I were barking and screaming, smiling and sometimes frowning.  Until the Leilatron stopped!!!!!!!!!!

I was scared it had stopped working but I was wrong.  The stones were getting too hard.  But what was that creature peering in the window?  It was a real, alive, dirty and dusty human.  I couldn't believe my eyes.  There was a human living in the centre of the Earth.  I wanted to get ot and say "Hello" but I decided to go home.

This time we didn't scream but were sad to leave the human on his own.  When we arrived at home we jumped out.  I carried teh Leilatron to brainy Brians room while Patchy threw Earth on the hole so no one would notice.  Brian did see some scratches on the spaceship but I blamed it on Patchy.  "PATCHY!"  screamed Brian.  "WOOF WOOF!" barked Patchy, narrowing his eyes at me.

JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH

Here is another super story from Hennessey.  Sit back and enjoy yet another fantastic piece of work from 4G!

Journey to the centre of the Earth

by Hennessey

Hello!  I am a wacky, funky and also very brave scientist and my name is Scientist Chuckles.  I am going to to be telling you about my drastic journey to the centre of the earth.  

Well, I traveled in a massive screw machine.  The reason I went was because I needed a cure for a poison I was making.  And when it was at the last minute my assistant scientist Julie wanted to come too so she came along.

So, we got into the machine I made and set off.  It took 10 seconds to get there.  We were travelling at the speed of light!  When we were in the machine there was a joystick to control the machine and loads of buttons to speed it up and stop the machine.

Finally, we walked out of the machine and we were in the jungle up in the air.  We thought and thought then we came up with something.  There's probably not gravity in the centre of the Earth and suddenly we saw little people walking.  We picked them up and said "Hello, are you OK?".  They didn't answer and walked off!

Then one said to us "Who are you?".  I said "We are called humans, we live on Earth".  "Wow, we're called poppings, if you touch us we grow enormous!" "How did you get here?"  I asked.  "Well, a scientist made us out of a magical poison and then he left us here".  "Why do you think he did that?"  I asked weirdly.  "I think he left us here so nobody knows his secret of how he made us!"  

"Very interesting isn't it Julie?"  said I.  "Yes, very interesting" said Julie grinning.  

So Scientist Chuckles and Julie set off and explored the non-gravity jungle.  They saw tropical plants, massive trees and even talking leaves.  They saw the sky which was not blue but coral orange.  The trees were not brown, they were yellow.  They saw tropical birds, flying pigs, flying sheep and flying cows. It was more like a farm!  

They explored high and low but there was not a cure until they came to what they needed.  They picked it up and made the poison, did the cure and decided not to go home but live there.  Scientist Chuckles and Julie decided to marry each other!  Let's hit it monkey d-jay, rapping music on!!!

THE RING OF FIRE

We now know that pushing plates cause earthquakes because the pressure builds up until one plate finally slips, causing the ground to shake.  We also know that when plates pull apart they create a gap and this means magma from the mantle of the earth can escape through the gap resulting in a volcano.

Ring of Fire 

One of the most talked about plates that make up the Earth is the Pacific plate which lies under the Pacific ocean.  The edges of this plate lie under many different countries meaning certain towns and cities are built right on areas that could be affected by the moving plates at any time.  Many volcanoes and earthquakes occur around the edges of this plate and this is why it has the name 'The Ring of Fire'.  Have a look at the map to get an idea of how many countries are on the edge of the Pacific plate.

This news report below gives a great insight into The Ring of Fire.  When you are watching it make a note of all the places that are mentioned to give you an idea of just how dangerous this moving plate can be.  Can you see now why they call it The Ring of Fire?

Here is another clip which helps us see about the dangers.  Ring of Fire - News clip

EARTHQUAKES

At the beginning of our 'Active Planet' topic we ran a drill to help us prepare should we ever be involved in an earthquake.  4G set up a disaster relief centre in their classroom for victims of the earthquake.  Now we have been thinking more about earthquakes and the devastation that often occurs because of them.

Pushing plates cause earthquakes

Before we begin discussing earthquakes it is very important to know how they are caused.  We have previously mentioned plate tectonics.  When two of the plates meet they sometimes push together, causing a huge build up of pressure until suddenly one plate gives way and slips beneath the other plate.  This sudden jerk movement of the slipping plate causes the ground to shake and  the vibrations can be felt on the ground we walk on.  Sometimes this action is so forceful buildings can collapse and roads can break apart.  

Have a look at this video to get more of an idea about earthquakes.  Earthquake information clip

The clip below gives you an idea of how earthquakes can cause harm to people.  When you watch this clip think about how the people might be feeling?  Have a look at how buildings are damaged.  When the school girl is speaking imagine that happened in your school.
News report - Earthquake in New Zealand

Earthquakes in the ocean can cause tsunamis to occur.  This makes earthquakes even more deadly and can cause death and destruction for people who did not even feel the tremor of the earthquake as it happened.  A tsunami is a huge wave that can be even taller than buildings.  The wave will travel extremely fast and wash in over a whole town or city.  This leaves a huge flood causing many deaths and destroying buildings.

The tsunami is caused when two of the plates meet and like we already mentioned they keep pushing together until one plate slips.  The ocean floor jerks upward and this causes the water to also move upward at a really fast pace.  The water has literally been pushed forward so it is now speeding towards the coast where there might be a town or village.  This clip helps you get a more visual image of how a tsunami would happen.  Explaining how tsunamis happen

So as we can see, earthquakes can cause loss of lives in many different ways.  Engineers are always trying to come up with different ways to make stronger buildings that can withstand the violent tremors of earthquakes and stay standing when the ground moves.