This week, Year 4 have been transported all the way to Sicily, the home of Mount Etna — one of the world’s most active volcanoes! To our amazement, Etna has erupted, and what an experience it has been!
Stepping into the shoes of real journalists, we transformed our classroom into the St John’s News Studio, ready to report the dramatic events as they unfolded. Our young reporters interviewed a range of people affected by the eruption: from scientists studying the volcano, to families and tourists witnessing the ash and lava and farmers protecting their land.
As our reports continued, the locals of Sicily soon discovered that volcanic eruptions aren’t the only effects of the movement of tectonic plates. They also learned about the earthquakes and tsunamis that can happen when the Earth’s crust shifts and collides.
Just when we thought the excitement was over, the people of Sicily were in for another tectonic plate surprise - an earthquake! To prepare, we became engineers, designing and constructing our very own earthquake and tsunami-proof buildings. We tested different materials and structures to see which designs could survive the shaking ground.
We ended our week discussing the positive and negative impacts of living beside a volcano in preparation for a big debate next week…
We also welcomed players from the NUFC Foundation Academy who spoke about their core values. We got to ask them a lot of questions, which left us feeling inspired by the end.
Well done Year 4 for a very creative and imaginative week!