Yr13 - Tectonics

We started Wednesday's lesson with a reminder about the structure of the earth... We talked about Mr Ogden's biro experiment (but didn't risk setting fire to the Maths Block...). We recapped the different types of plate boundaries that you had looked at while I was in Wales, the processes occurring at each, and the landforms that result.

We then watched the Volcanoes episode of Power of the Planet, where Iain Stewart visited, amongst other places, Erta Ale in Ethiopia ("the first time you're gonna abseil, you kinda didn't want it to be into an active volcano"!) and Thingvellir in Iceland.

We finished with a discussion about the theory of hotspots - still somewhat controversial, but the most commonly accepted explanation for the formation of volcanic islands such as Hawaii, well away from plate boundaries.

Year 13 - Cold Environments

Wednesday's lesson began - after the technological difficulties - with a look at the first part of Iain Stewart's Power of the Planet:

We then talked about glaciers as systems, with inputs of precipitation, energy and sediment, processes of ice movement, erosion (abrasion and plucking) and deposition, and outputs in the form of sediment, meltwater and calving.

We looked at the structure of a glacier - zones of ablation and accumulation - and the stratigraphy of a glacier... how temperature and velocity vary throughout the glacier... mechanisms of glacial movement.

We then watched another section of the Power of the Planet where Iain Stewart and glaciologist Miriam Jackson investigated what was going on underneath a glacier. You can watch that clip again here.

We finished with a quick look at processes of glacial erosion.

For next Wednesday, you are findng out about five glacial landforms - with examples of each and pictures (photographs or sketches) of each where possible.

Earth - The Power of the Planet

Hopefully, you will have just finished watching Earth - The Power of the Planet. Tonight's spectacular programme was the first of a new series on BBC2, and looked at volcanoes - "the most important force in the creation of the planet as we know it today"...



If you missed the programme, and didn't see Dr Iain Stewart abseiling into a lava lake, then it is repeated on Sunday at 6.oopm - make sure you are watching!! (You can also pre-order the DVD of the series from the BBC Shop... I wonder if Santa reads Geogtastic...)