Intro Quiz: Reasons why people live in tectonic areas

Video: Reasons why people live in tectonic areas

﻿Hi everyone and welcome to our session today. So what we're going to be having a look at is why people live in hazardous zones. So we spent a lot of time talking about the effects of earthquakes, the responses to earthquakes, but it's a really good question. Why would people choose to live in areas that suffer from tectonic hazards? Now, all you will need for today is a pen and a piece of paper. And as I always say, please, please, please turn your phone off, make sure you're somewhere nice and quiet and you're ready to start today's session. Okay, welcome to today's lesson. So what we're going to be having a look at today is why is it that people choose to live in areas that are affected by tectonic hazards. Now, this is a question, and it's an important one, because I want you to have a think just for a moment. Would you choose to live somewhere where you knew that a volcano might erupt or an earthquake might happen? It doesn't really make sense unless we start to drill down into those reasons why. So first things first, please can I ask you to write the title, "Why do People Live in Areas Affected by Tectonic Hazards?" Make sure that you have a question mark, please. And if you've got a ruler knocking around, then underline it as well. And then as soon as you've done that, we will make a start. Okay. So why is it that people live in areas that are at risk of tectonic hazards? Now, the first thing that I would like you to do is to have a look at this incredible photograph of Mount Etna in Italy. Now there are over a million people that live at the foot of Mount Etna and you can see in the foreground of the photograph, all of those houses and all of those buildings. Now that is 1 million people that have chosen to live there. And we're going to explore why. Why they might choose to do that. Now around the world, there are millions and millions of people that live in places that are vulnerable to either earthquakes or volcanoes. Now, for some people it's because they don't have a choice, but for others, people actually choose to. So we're going to start to think about why. And as I say, take this back to yourself. Would you choose to live near a volcano or an earthquake? If you are watching one of these lessons and you live in the UK, this isn't something that will affect you. But as I say, for millions of people around the world, it's a decision that they've made. Okay. So the first thing that I'm going to do is to ask you to think. Now, for some of you though, you may think that's quite painful, but that is what I want you to do first of all. I want you to think about what is happening in both of these photographs. So the photograph on the left shows a tourist refuge at the base of Mount Etna and then the photograph on the right shows some rice fields in Bali, which is in Indonesia. Now pause the video. And I want you to write down as many reasons as you can for why people might live in tectonic zones. Use these photos as a basis to start your thinking. Okay. So if you said that you think that areas that experienced tectonic hazards might be tourist attractions, you would be absolutely right. We're going to have a look at this in more detail in a minute. The volcanoes around the world attract visitors to go and see them. The volcanoes in Hawaii that are constantly erupting, you can take boat trips out to go and watch the lava as it spills onto the Earth's surface. There's a volcano in Guatemala that erupts every single day, I've been to see it, I've been to walk on that volcano. Tourists love to visit volcanoes. And the second reason, if you said something about farming, you would also be right, because actually around the base of volcanoes, there's something really good about the soil that makes them an excellent place to farm. So what we're going to do now is we're going to look at three reasons, so one, two, three, for why it is that people live in areas that experience tectonic hazards. So reason number one, as we said, volcanoes are tourist attractions. Now, as a result of the many, many people that go to visit volcanoes, that creates jobs. So it means that local people can work within the tourism industry. Now in this photograph, you can see Mount Etna. And actually there are thousands of tourists that visit Mount Etna every single year, particularly when it is erupting. Now, Mount Etna is not normally a particularly dangerous volcano, as in it has ash that comes out of the top and sometimes the lava flows, but it's not normally particularly explosive. So it's fairly safe for visitors to go there. And as I say, this provides jobs to the local people. Now it'd be great if you could pause the video now and just make some notes on this. Okay. So the second reason that people choose to live near volcanoes is because the land around a volcano is extremely fertile. It is great for growing crops. Now, the minerals that are in volcanic ash, which is erupted from the top of volcanoes, they make the soil extremely fertile. And as a result, farmers are able to grow their crops there really, really well. As you can see in the photograph of Bali and the rice fields there. Now, the volcano in Bali is called Mount Agung and it does erupt, and it does erupt quite frequently. However, it's worth the risk for those farmers because when it does erupt, it adds this lovely layer of ash over the top of the land, which makes that really, really fertile and a great place to grow crops. Okay, again, pause the video, take some notes. And then we'll look at the third reason, which I love, because I am a nerdy geographer. Okay. So the third reason that people might choose to live in tectonic zones is because of geothermal energy. Now, geothermal energy is a renewable energy source. And essentially it can be found on tectonic plate margins. Now, when the magma is near the surface of the earth, because it's making its way up through one of the margins, it can, or it does, heat the groundwater, so the water that is stored underground. And as a result that can then be turned into steam, which can provide this renewable energy supply. Now, the photo that you're looking at is a geothermal plant in New Zealand. And as I say, this creates renewable energy. They're literally using the steam that's created from the heating of the groundwater to turn turbines and create this never-ending supply of energy. So again, pause the video, write it down. And then I'm going to test you to see if you can remember those three factors. Okay. So all I want you to do, is to pause the video and to state the three reasons that people live in areas affected by tectonic hazards. Okay. So, if you had tourist attractions, give yourself a tick. If you had farming, give yourself a tick, and if you had geothermal energy, give yourself a tick. Now, again, I want to ask you this question. In your mind, are these three reasons good enough reasons to live in areas near volcanoes or that experience earthquakes? It might be worth having a conversation with somebody in your house about this later. Would you live near a volcano? It's a great question. But actually then if you start to think about the fact that it creates lots of jobs, that actually there are jobs in farming and in the tourism industry, and you can have access to renewable energy. Maybe it's not such a bad deal in the end. So what I would like you to do please, is this. I would like you to answer this question. Using a named example, explain two reasons why people live in areas which experience tectonic hazards. Now we've talked in this session a little bit about Mount Etna, which is in Italy. We talked about Mount Agung, which is in Bali, Indonesia. And then I mentioned New Zealand when I was talking about geothermal energy. You could pick any one of those examples, or if you wanted to, you could use two different examples for your two different reasons. That's totally fine. But I would like you to now explain why it is that people live in areas that have tectonic hazards. So your success criteria is, use a named example, make sure you give two reasons, because that's how many you've been asked to, and use those connective words that we've been practising . I just said, connective words, connecting words that we've been practising throughout. "However", "because", "as a result", "this means". All of those different words that show that you are explaining your point, developing what you're saying. So pause the video now, and then we'll go through the answers. Okay. So, this is what I've written. "There are a large number of people who live in areas that are affected by tectonic hazards. One of the reasons is because tourists visit volcanoes and this can provide jobs in the tourist industry. An example of this is Mount Etna in Italy, which has thousands of visitors per year." So, I get my mark for explaining one of those reasons, and then using my example. Then I had to give a second reason. So, "Another reason why people live in areas affected by tectonic hazards is that the soil around volcanoes is extremely fertile. This means that the land is very good for farming which attracts farmers." Now give yourself a mark for each of those sections. If you then had gone on to say an example of this is farmers living in Bali, at the foot of Mount Agung, you would also get a mark for that. Now, as you can see in my answer, I've highlighted the key terms. And I do that just because it's good practise so that I make sure I always sound like a geographer. Geography is beautiful in the sense that it almost has its own language. There is nowhere else that you will be talking about destructive and constructive plate boundaries, where you'll be talking about the tourist industry, fertile farming. They're not words that we would necessarily use day to day, but they are words that are used in geography. Now you can see in my first paragraph, I've also highlighted my connectives, "because" and "which has". I didn't do it in my second paragraph. And the reason is I wanted you to find the connective. So have a read through again, what's the connective that I used to show that I was developing my point. Okay, I'm hoping that you are all saying, "this means", and if you are, then you are totally right. So that brings us to the end of another great session today. I'm really pleased with how you've done. What I'd like you to do, is to go back through the work that you've done today and to highlight those three key reasons that people live in areas affected by tectonic hazards. So, remember, we have got jobs that are created in tourism, we have got farming, and we've got geothermal energy. So they are our three main reasons why people would choose to live in areas affected by tectonic hazards. And don't forget, I set you the challenge of going and having a conversation with somebody, perhaps in your family or in your house, to figure out whether you would choose to live in a tectonic hazard zone. Right, have a really great week and I look forward to seeing you soon. Bye.

Geography

Reasons why people live in tectonic areas

Introductory Quiz

Video

Final Quiz

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