Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Term One Unit: Natural Occurrences

Students from Year 4 have been working on creating their own wiki's during class time, they have researched various Natural Occurrences. They designed different layouts and were able to even add links to various You Tube clips to support their research.


Natural disasters

A natural disaster is the effect of a natural hazard (e.g. flood, tornado, volcano eruption, earthquake, or landslide) that affects the environment, and leads to financial, environmental and/or human losses. The resulting loss depends on the capacity of the population to support or resist the disaster, and their resilience. This understanding is concentrated in the formulation: "disasters occur when hazards meet vulnerability."A natural hazard will hence never result in a natural disaster in areas without vulnerability, e.g. strong earthquakes in uninhabited areas.

The term natural has consequently been disputed because the events simply are not hazards or disasters without human involvement. Natural disasters are common in Chile.

By Geo
rgie. P, Sam, Jai


We are talking about tsunami, a tsunami happened in Asia during 2004.
A tsunami can be two metre's tall, tsunami's can happen at most beaches, schools near a beach have tsunami warnings.

Tsunami happens when there is an underground earthquake, tsunami cause a lot of death!!!


By Alan and Caelum


We are going to talk about volcanoes.

A volcano can create a cloud of acid. Volcanoes erupt when hot molten rock boils to the surface. On some volcanoes, the hot molten rocks collapse after a heavy eruption. Magma causes different types of volcano eruptions.

As lava and ash cool after repeated eruptions the ash builds up to make the volcano. The ash can cause damage to the lungs. The volcano can erupt after an earthquake or very heavy events. After earthquakes it can form a crack in the earths surface that will allow magma, lava and hot gas rise to the surface.

The name volcano has it's origin from the name "Vulcan" a god of fire in roman mythology. Volcanoes are like giant safety valves that release pressure that builds up inside the earth. There are around 1510 'active' volcanoes in the world. We currently know of 80 or more which are under the oceans. Over half of the world’s volcanoes arise in a belt around the Pacific Ocean called the Ring of Fire.By Abi and Georgie


Hi welcome to our wiki packed full of information about volcanoes.

The earth is made up of three layers called Crust, Core and the Mantle.
Volcanoes occur all around the world in different places. Just look at this video above.

When the magma under the earth explodes it then becomes lava. A volcano is made up of three parts and they are called the Magma Chamber, the Vent and the Ash and Cinder Layers. A volcano is built by burn down ash. When a volcano explodes it looks like fire woks.
By Amy and Bethany


A tornado is like a spinning funnel made of air. They reach down from giant thunderstorms. The winds can blow up to 480 kilometres an hour. That's twice as fast as an express train! Tornadoes can rip trees from the ground and destroy houses.
By Bailey


Tornadoes are nature’s most violent storms. Tornadoes must always be taken seriously. Tornadoes can be very dangerous -- sometimes even deadly. They come from powerful thunderstorms and appear as rotating, funnel-shaped clouds. Tornado winds can reach 300 miles per hour. They cause damage when they touch down on the ground. The ability to predict tornadoes is limited. Usually a community will have at least a few minutes warning. The most important thing to do is TAKE SHELTER when a tornado is nearby.

Some tornadoes are clearly visible, while rain or nearby low-hanging clouds obscure others.
Before a tornado hits, the wind may die down and the air may become very still. A cloud of debris can mark the location of a tornado even if a funnel is not visible. Tornadoes generally occur near the trailing edge of a thunderstorm. It is not uncommon to see clear, sunlit skies behind a tornado.

How can we protect ourselves from a tornado?

Step 1
Move down to the lowest level in your home. Tornados only stay on the ground for an average of 20 minutes. During this time, they can rise and come down over and over. This means that, even if you don't have a basement, the safest level in your home is the ground level.
Step 2
Place yourself into an interior room if you do not have a basement. This could be a closet if nothing else. If you do have a basement, move under the stairs. Stairs and the stairwell are extremely sturdy. This is one of the safest places in your home.
Step 3
Crawl under a heavy table or hold a large book over your head. This is to protect your head and neck from flying debris. It is possible the roof could collapse. This is why a sturdy table is recommended.
Step 4
Surround yourself with couch cushions. Try to create as many barriers between you and the tornado. Couch cushions will soften any blows flying debris could cause to your body.
Step 5
Hold on to something secured to the ground. To rnadoes move at incredible speeds. This makes the pressure inside a tornado very low and low pressure creates sucking. If a tornado charges over your house, the only chance you have of staying in place is to hold on tightly to a secured object. This could be the stairs, floorboards, or anything else that looks sturdy.
By Brandon

Hello my name is Connor, I am going to tell you about floods. A flood is when a river or stream over flows because to much rain falls into rivers or streams and floods near by towns. Peoples cars and houses can be washed away by the floods rushing waters. If you have a computer it will not work after a flood.
By Connor


Welcome to Declans and Alan's wiki about Earthquakes. Earthquakes are one of the most dangerous, and powerful natural occurrences. Earthquakes happened recently in Chile. A Earthquake can kill thousands of people. Earthquakes can make Fissure (Fissure is a large crack on the ground), they also can cause a tsunami through an underground earthquake.

By Declan and Alan


Our wiki is about volcanoes.

Firstly the new layers of ash make a cone. Inside the volcano there is hot magma this is only called lava when it's erupted.

Check out the video we found.

I hope that when you watch our youtube video you learn something about volcanoes.

The ash is like thick grey snow.
By Ebony, Rufaro and Vongi


A volcano is a mountain that opens downward to a pool of molten rock below the surface of the earth. When pressure builds up, eruptions occur. Gases and rock shoot up through the opening and spill over or fill the air with lava fragments. Eruptions can cause lateral blasts, lava flows, hot ash flows, mudslides, avalanches, falling ash and floods. Volcano eruptions have been known to knock down entire forests. An erupting volcano can trigger tsunamis, flashfloods, earthquakes, mudflows and rockfalls.

Active volcanoes in the U.S. are found mainly in Hawaii, Alaska, California, Oregon and Washington. The greatest chance of eruptions near areas where many people live is in Hawaii and Alaska. The danger area around a volcano covers about a 20-mile radius. In May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted in Washington state. It killed 58 people and caused more than $1 billion in property damage.


Fresh volcanic ash, made of pulverized rock, can be harsh, acidic, gritty, glassy and smelly. The ash can cause damage to the lungs of older people, babies and people with respiratory problems.
By Georgia, Jai, Sam


Earthquakes are the shaking, rolling or sudden shock of the earth’s surface. Earthquakes happen along "fault lines" in the earth’s crust. Earthquakes can be felt over large areas although they usually last less than one minute. Earthquakes cannot be predicted -- although scientists are working on it!

Most of the time, you will notice an earthquake by the gentle shaking of the ground. You may notice hanging plants swaying or objects wobbling on shelves. Sometimes you may hear a low rumbling noise or feel a sharp jolt. A survivor of the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco said the sensation was like riding a bicycle down a long flight of stairs.

The intensity of an earthquake can be measured. One measurement is called the Richter scale. Earthquakes below 4.0 on the Richter scale usually do not cause damage, and earthquakes below 2.0 usually can’t be felt. Earthquakes over 5.0 on the scale can cause damage. A magnitude 6.0 earthquake is considered strong and a magnitude 7.0 is a major earthquake. The Northridge Earthquake, which hit Southern California in 1994, was magnitude 6.7.

Check this site out.
By Jai, Sam Georgia


Hi, our names are Peter and Ben. We are telling you about the Earthquake in Chile. On the weekend Chile fell to pieces because there was a massive earthquake. There was a lot of damage and lives were lost. Buildings crashed down, airport's shut down and communication has been interrupted. There was looting in throughout the city.
By Peter and Ben


Flooding happens during heavy rains, when rivers overflow, when ocean waves come onshore, when snow melts too fast or when dams or levees break.

THINGS TO KNOW:
Flooding may be only a few inches of water or it may cover a house to the rooftop. Floods that happen very quickly are called flash floods. Flooding is the most common of all natural hazards. It can happen in every U.S. state and territory.

Important terms to know:

* Flood Watch or Flashflood Watch -- Flooding may happen soon. Stay tuned to the radio or television news for more information. If you hear a flashflood warning, talk to an adult immediately!

* Flood Warning -- You may be asked to leave the area. A flood may be happening or will be very soon. Tell an adult if you hear a flood warning. If you have to leave the area, remember to bring your Disaster Supply Kit and make arrangements for your pets.

* Flashflood Warning -- A flashflood is happening. Get to high ground right away. Tell an adult!

By Sam






10 comments:

  1. Congratulations Year 4. The information is great. Well done. I like the hyperlink. Mrs S

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  2. It was great fun making the volcanoes explode
    last term and the wiki's.Thanx for letting us
    do this.

    Bye, Anonymous36

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  3. Well done Year 4! Your write up on Natural Occurences made for some facinating reading. Keep up the good work!

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  4. nice blog
    anonymous 5

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  5. It was so fun doing all that stuff last term
    and i'd like to do some more natural disasters
    stuff throughout the year again.....

    Bye Anonymous36

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  6. It will be so cool if we made wiki's every day
    about natural disasters ya know, well see ya
    at school mr K.

    Bye,
    Anonymous36

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  7. I will try to fit in some more time for looking at natural disasters later in the year. We will definitely be doing more work with the wiki's and possibly look at some other writing software.

    Thanks for your comments, keep them coming!
    Mr K

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  8. This term we have been working on Major Beliefs and Bullying.
    In bullying there is a angry person,a threatened person,Supporter,Suspect and Witness.



    By Anonymous 18

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  9. Wow I didnt know that natural disasters coud be so interesting and I never knew how much harm that they cause. So i'm glad we did natural disasters for term 1.
    From anom 38.

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  10. Year 4 WOW!!!
    Natural Disasters are so interesting
    and year 4 you have written some great
    things about them.
    Hope you add more to them so I can
    learn even more about Natural Disasters
    Thanx for teaching me year 4 and teachers!!!


    Anonymous 35

    ReplyDelete