Mountains and Volcanoes
Note: Please read our introduction to geography study and the Charlotte Mason method.
Key Texts:
- The Earth: an Introduction to the Geography of the World by Barbara Taylor (ISBN: 0753454254)
- OR Mountains and Volcanoes: Geography Facts and Experiments by Barbara Taylor (one of four separate books included in The Earth)
- Volcano: the Eruption and Healing of Mount St. Helens by Patricia Lauber
Suggested Supplements:
- Planet Earth/Inside Out (Gibbons)
- How to Dig a Hole to the Other Side of the World (McNulty)
- Volcano and Earthquake (DK Eyewitness Books)
- How Mountains Are Made (Zoehfeld)
- The Top of the World: Climbing Mount Everest (Jenkins)
- Earthquakes (Branley)
- Erosion: Changing Earth’s Surface (Koontz)
- Cracking Up: A Story About Erosion (Bailey)
- Volcanoes (Branley)
- Volcanoes (older edition)
- Great Shakes (Stille)
- The Pebble in My Pocket (Hooper)
- Julie the Rockhound (Karwoski)
- Geysers: What they are and How They Work (Bryan)
- Geyers (older edition)
Useful Links
- Volcano World
- United States Geological Survey (Earthquakes)
- British Geological Survey (Earthquakes)
- Geysers
Notes:
You will need to choose a feature of your local landscape to study during the course of the year. Maybe you have your own local mountain, or just a small hill. Other possibilities include rock formations, caves . Lessons focusing on this area are spread throughout the year and are marked with an asterisk.
The explanations in this book assume an old earth and timescales of hundreds of millions of years. For explanation of the teachings of the Catholic Church on creation and evolution see concise summary of the official position of the Church on evolution, a lecture “Evolution and the Catholic Faith” by physicist Stephen Barr, president of the Society of Catholic Scientists, and these comments on press reports of Pope John Paul II’s statement on evolution.
We have suggested some topics that you might want your child to record in his notebook. Depending on your child’s writing and drawing ability you may want to add more
LESSON PLANS
Local Geography/Field Work –
To be spread over the year as part of your regular nature walks and outings.
- Visit your chosen area and observe it carefully. Draw, write or narrate a description for your notebook.
- Take a trip to your local library. Can you find out anything about your chosen land feature? What type of rock is it made from? Can you discover anything about how it was formed?
BFSU A-10 – Rocks, Minerals, Crystals, Dirt, and Soils
Part 1 “Rocks and Minerals”
- Visit your chosen area. What animals live here? What evidence of animal life can you find? (See Week 15)
- Look around your chosen land feature and see what evidence you can find for the way it is (or has been) used by people. Is it used for leisure, or does it have a more practical use? Has there ever been mining or quarrying in the area, for example. Make a page for your notebook.
BFSU D-8 – Rocks and Fossils
Part 4 “The Stories Rocks Tell”
- Visit your chosen area and look for rocks and pebbles. Take some home and see if you can identify them.
BFSU A-10 – Rocks, Minerals, Crystals, Dirt, and Soils
Part 3 “Dirt and Soil”
Part 4 “Rocks, Minerals, Dirt, and Soil as Resources”
- Take a final trip to your chosen land feature. Pick a feature of your choice to investigate and make a notebook page. Also note any changes that have taken place since your first visit.
Term 1
Week 1:
- Set up a notebook to use for information about mountains, volcanoes, earthquakes and other landform phenomena. This will be both a scrapbook and a place for your child to keep his own notes and pictures. Include a section for keeping a record of a local land feature from your field work. (The Earth, p.46-7; M&V, p.30-1)
Throughout the Year:
- Collect newspaper and magazine cuttings, pictures, poems and any other items you find relating to mountains, volcanoes, earthquakes and other land features; add them to the scrapbook.
Week 2:
- Start a mountain map. Add the Himalayas, Rockies, Andes and Alps to a blank world map. Find out which countries contain part or all of these mountain ranges. (The Earth, p.28-9; M&V, p.4-5)
Week 3:
- Talk about what is inside the earth. Make a model of the earth with crust, mantle, outer core and inner core using playdough, modelling clay or plasticine. (The Earth, p.30; M&V, p.6)
Suggested Reading: Planet Earth/Inside Out (Gibbons)
Week 4:
- Suggested Reading: How to Dig a Hole to the Other Side of the World (McNulty)
Week 5:
- Demonstrate the movement of liquid rock in the mantle, using hot water and food coloring. (The Earth, p.31; M&V, p.7)
This activity is directly related to the Chemistry activity for this week in general science. You will want to plan to do your science for week 5 prior to (or combined with) this activity.
BFSU2 A-11 – Atomic/Molecular Motion I: Evidence from Brownian Motion and Diffusion- Part 1 “Brownian Motion”
- Part 2 “Diffusion”
Week 6:
- Explain tectonic plates. Copy the major fault lines and direction of movement onto a blank world map for your notebook. (The Earth, p.32; M&V, p.8)
Suggested Reading: Volcano and Earthquake (DK Eyewitness Books)
Week 7:
- Demonstrate how the continents of Africa and South America may have once fitted together with cardboard shapes. (The Earth, p.33; M&V, p.9)
Week 8:
- Compare the map of major fault lines with a world map. Which major cities are most at risk of earthquakes? Mark them on your map. Talk about the need to build carefully in earthquake prone areas. Simulate an earthquake and see its effect on buildings. (Or watch a YouTube video of an earthquake on buildings.)
Suggested Reading: Earthquakes (Branley)
Week 9:
- Compare your map of major fault lines with a world map. Which major cities are most at risk of earthquakes? Mark them on your map. Talk about the need to build carefully in earthquake prone areas. Simulate an earthquake and see its effect on buildings. (The Earth, p.34-5; M&V, p.10-11)
Optional: Watch a YouTube video of an earthquake on buildings.
BFSU C-5 – Inertia
Part 1 “Attributes of Inertia”
Week 10:
- When an earthquake takes place vibrations called “seismic waves” travel through the earth. These are measured by instruments known as “seismographs” and the “magnitude” (size) of an earthquake is calculated according to the Richter Scale invented by Charles F. Richter in 1935. The magnitude increases logarithmically: this means that an earthquake measuring 6 on the Richter scale is 10 times as large and produces 31 times as much energy as an earthquake measuring 5. Visit this site to note recent earthquakes and mark the last five earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.0 on your fault line map. You might like to make a page on the Richter Scale for your notebook.
Suggested Reading: Great Shakes (Stille)
Magnitude.…….Effects
1 to 3…………âRecorded on local seismographs, but generally not felt.
3 to 4…………âOften felt; no damage.
5……………â€Felt widely; slight damage near epicentre.
6……………â€Damage to poorly constructed buildings and other structures within 10 km.
7……………â€Major earthquake; causes serious damage up to 100 km.
8……………â€Great earthquake; great destruction; loss of life over several 100 km.
9……………â€Rare great earthquake; major damage over a large region over 1000 km.
Week 11:
- Read an optional book or use this time to work on your field work/notebook.
Week 12: Catch-up/Exams
Optional Extra:
I Wonder Why Mountains Have Snow On Top: and Other Questions About Mountains
Term 2
Week 13:
- Learn about fold, block and dome mountains. Make a model of fold mountains using colored play dough, modeling clay or plasticine. Add the Great Rift Valley and the Appalachians to your mountain map. (The Earth, pp. 36-8; M&V, pp. 12-14)
Suggested Reading: How Mountains Are Made (Zoehfeld)
Week 14:
- Learn about how the Himalayas were made. Demonstrate with ice cream and cookies (biscuits). Add Mount Everest to your mountain map. (The Earth, p. 39; M&V, p. 15)
Suggested reading: The Top of the World: Climbing Mount Everest (Jenkins)
Week 15:
- Make a list of animals that are found in mountainous areas. Make a page about one type of animal for your notebook.
Suggested reference books: Mountain Mammals (True Books: Animals), Animals of the High Mountains (Books for Young Explorers), and Draw Write Now, Book 8: Animals of the World, Dry Land Animals (Draw-Write-Now)
Week 16:
- Explain erosion. (Rock is broken down by acids in rainwater and by changes in temperature; it is also worn away by rain, rivers and the wind.) Demonstrate the effect of the acid in rain on rock – put a piece of limestone or natural chalk in a jar and pour vinegar onto it. Look at pictures of Bryce Canyon (Utah) and the Giants’ Causeway (Ireland) to see examples of erosion. (M&V, pp. 16-17; not included in The Earth)
Suggested reading: Cracking Up: A Story About Erosion (Bailey) & Erosion: Changing Earth’s Surface (Koontz)
BFSU C-6 – Friction
-
- Part 1 “The Concept of Friction”
- Part 4 “Wind and Water Resistance”
BFSU D-8 – Rocks and Fossils
-
- Part 1 “Erosion, Sediments, and Fossils”
- Part 2 “Limestone”
- Part 4 “The Stories Rocks Tell” (this lesson continues throughout future activities)
Week 17:
- Make fossils with Plaster of Paris and modeling clay. (M&V, pp. 18-19)
Week 18:
- Talk about how volcanoes are made. Demonstrate how lava flows and sets by making toffee. (The Earth, pp. 40-1; M&V, pp. 20-1)
Suggested Reading: Volcanoes (Branley)
Week 19:
- Learn about volcanic cone types. You can find pictures of the three types online at Volcano World, with more detail on shield cones, cinder cones and composite cones on the succeeding pages. You may want to play the whole presentation through, but don’t worry too much about the eruption types at this point as they will be studied in the next lesson. Make models of the different cones with play dough, modeling clay or plasticine, or make a notebook page. (M&V, p.22; not included in The Earth)
Week 20:
- Learn about the six eruption types: Icelandic, Hawaiian, Strombolian, Vulcanian, Pelean and Plinian from Volcano World. Make a page on eruption types for your notebook.
BFSU C-5 – Push Pushes Back
Week 21:
- Choose a symbol for volcanoes and make a key for your mountain map. Mark the following volcanoes: Mount St. Helens, USA (composite cone); Mount Fuji, Japan (composite cone); Mauna Loa, Hawaii (shield cone); Mount Vesuvius, Italy (cinder cone), Mount Etna, Sicily (composite cone). Look at pictures of as many of these volcanoes as possible, either online or in a book.
Week 22:
- Build your own erupting volcano. (M&V, p. 23; not included in The Earth – see instructions)
Week 23:
- Read about undersea volcanoes and volcanic islands. Add Krakatoa, Surtsey and Mauna Kea to your map. Add pictures of volcanoes to your notebook. (The Earth, p.42-3; M&V, p.24-5)
BFSU D-8 – Rocks and Fossils
-
- Part 4 “The Stories Rocks Tell”
Week 24: Catch-up/Exams
Optional Extras:
Mountain Mammals (True Books: Animals)
Animals of the High Mountains (Books for Young Explorers)
Draw Write Now, Book 8: Animals of the World, Dry Land Animals (Draw-Write-Now)
Term 3
Week 25:
Week 26:
Week 27:
Week 28:
Week 29:
Week 30:
- Learn about igneous rocks. Look at a diamond and a piece of pumice stone and examine them with a magnifying glass. Mark Le Puy (France), Giants’ Causeway (Northern Ireland) and Staffa (Scotland) on your map. (The Earth, p.44-5; M&V, p.26-7)
Suggested Reading: The Pebble in My Pocket (Hooper)
BFSU A-10 – Rocks, Minerals, Crystals, Dirt, and Soils
-
- Part 2 “Crystals”
BFSU D-8 – Rocks and Fossils
-
- Part 3 “Contrasting Sedimentary and Igneous Rock”
Week 31:
- Suggested reading: Julie the Rockhound (Karwoski)
Week 32:
- Make your own crystals. (The Earth, p.44-5; M&V, p.26-7)
Because you will be making crystals this week as a part of your general science lesson, you can use this extra time to discuss and do activities related to Brownian Motion and Diffusion, which will tie into your Chemistry lesson this week as well as the next two weeks’ focus on Geysers in Earth Studies.
BFSU A-12 – Atomic/Molecular Motion II: Relationship to Temperature
- Part 2 “Heat and Change of State”
- Part 3 “Measuring Heat Energy”
Week 33:
- Explain geysers and look at pictures. Add geysers to your map key and mark Yellowstone National Park (USA), Iceland, New Zealand and Honshu (Japan). Make a page on geysers for your notebook. View this webcam of Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park. (The Earth, p.46; M&V, p.28)
Suggested reading: Geysers: What they are and How They Work (Bryan)
BFSU A-13 – Atomic/Molecular Motion III: Heat and Pressure
-
- Part 1 “The Heat-Pressure Relationship” (ongoing next week)
Week 34:
- Make your own geyser. (M&V, p.29; not included in The Earth – Homemade Geyser Tube)
BFSU A-13 – Atomic/Molecular Motion III: Heat and Pressure
-
- Part 1 “The Heat-Pressure Relationship”
- Part 2 “Application of Findings to Technology”
Week 35:
- Mountains and Volcanoes pp. 30-31
Week 36:
Catch-up/Exams