Geography:
Volcanoes
Lava, rock and ash
Read about volcanoes. How do you say these words in your language?
A volcano erupts when magma (hot, melted rock) comes up from the Earth’s interior. When it reaches the Earth’s surface, the hot melted rock is called lava. In some eruptions, lava comes out slowly and flows down the side of the volcano. But sometimes there is a violent explosion that throws lava, hot pieces of rock, and clouds of hot ash and gas into the sky. The ash and gas can cover several kilometres round the volcano. There are about twenty-five big volcanic eruptions every year, and thousands of smaller ones on land, under the sea or sometimes under glaciers.
Vesuvius
Do you know anything about Vesuvius? Share your ideas with the class. Then read the text and answer the questions.
Mount Vesuvius, a volcano near Naples in Italy, is hundreds of thousands of years old. Scientists believe it has erupted more than 50 times.
One day in August, 79 AD, there was a huge eruption. The Roman city of Pompeii, 10 kilometres from the volcano, was covered in six metres of hot ash. Ash fell from the sky, and rocks and hot gas came down the mountain at 160 , destroying the city and 2000 of its inhabitants.
Engineers rediscovered the city in the 18th century, and they started to remove the ash. Today you can visit Pompeii and see its streets and houses, the wonderful paintings, the theatre, the shops and the market place, and the remains of the people who lived there. It gives us a fascinating picture of life in Roman times. Archaeologists even found jars of fruit and loaves of bread!
Vesuvius is still active, and the last big eruption was in 1944.
Krakatoa
Read about Krakatoa, then say if these sentences are true or false.
On August 27th 1883, the island of Krakatoa in Indonesia exploded. It was the loudest explosion in history, and one of the biggest. It was 10,000 times more powerful than the first atomic bomb. People who lived 3000 kilometres away heard the explosion. Ash from the eruption fell all over the world. Most of the island disappeared under the sea.
No one lived on Krakatoa, but more than 36,000 people on other Indonesian islands were killed by falling rocks and giant waves that came across the sea.
The waves reached Chile on the other side of the world – 15,000 kilometres away. In 1927 a new volcano, ‘The Child of Krakatoa’, began to rise from the sea. Today it is about 330 metres high and it is getting bigger every year.
Eyjafjallajökull
Do you know the name ‘Eyjafjallajökull’? Why is it famous? Here are two clues: 2010, Iceland. Can you guess what happened? Do some research and then write a few sentences about Eyjafjallajökul.