Living close to volcanoes
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explain why people live near volcanoes and how to prepare for and respond to eruptions.
Key learning points
- One in twenty people lives close to an active volcano due to their fertile soils, tourist income and geothermal energy.
- There are risks including: pyroclastic flows, ash and lahars.
- Preparation such as public education as well as the monitoring of volcanoes can reduce risks to people living close by.
- Short-term responses include local and international emergency services providing aid to people.
- Long-term responses include infrastructure repair/rebuild in the months and years after the eruption.
Keywords
Evacuate - to move people away from an area with a threat or hazard to a place of safety
Infrastructure - all the basic systems in a country, such as transport and power supply
Short-term response - actions that occur in the hours, days or weeks immediately after a disaster to help the basic needs of people
Long-term response - actions that occur in the months or years after a disaster to help rebuild or recover from the effects
Common misconception
People do not live on volcanoes because it is too dangerous.
One in twenty people live close to an active volcano, as there are many attractive qualities to living there, e.g. fertile soils, tourist income and geothermal energy.
Teacher tip
Researcing a specific volcano, and creating an advert to encourage more visitors, could provide an inspiring homework task.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which layer of Earth contains molten rock (magma)?
Q2.What causes tectonic plates to move?
Q3.What is a plate boundary?
Q4.What happens at a destructive plate boundary?
Q5.What type of volcano has steep sides and erupts explosively?
Q6.Which of the following is a volcanic hazard?
Assessment exit quiz
4 Questions
Q1.How many people live close to an active volcano?
Q2.What are the risks of living near volcanoes?
Q3.Short-term responses after a volcanic eruption include:
Q4.What longer-term things help people manage the risk of living near hazards?
To help you plan your 8 geography lesson on: Living close to volcanoes, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 8 geography lesson on: Living close to volcanoes, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 geography lessons from the Tectonic hazards: Why is Earth restless? unit, dive into the full secondary geography curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.