It has 50 states, and
Washington DC is its capital.
There is blistering heat in Hawaii, while there is
freezing cold in Alaska!
Mexico
Mexico's official name is the Mexican United States, and its
capital is Mexico City.
Mexico introduced chocolate, chillies and
corn to the world!
Canada
Many French people live
there and the capital is
Ottowa.
Parts of Canada are uninhabited
as they are too cold!
Glossary Terms
Tectonic plates are massive, irregularly shaped
rocks, which can be made by of continental and
ocean materials, such as graphite.
A shield volcano is a broad domed volcano with gently sloping
sides, and they are usually found at constructive or tensional
boundaries.
A hurricane is a violent wind which has a gale
force of twelve on the Beaufort Scale.
A tornado is a mobile, destructing vortex
of violently rotating winds having the
appearance of a funnel shaped looking
cloud.
An avalanche is a mass of snow, ice and rocks
rapidly falling down a sloped surface, such as a
mountainside.
Earthquakes are the vibrations caused by rocks breaking
under stress. The surface along which the rocks break and
move is called a fault.
Short Term Need is what you need urgently
after a disaster, such as food and shelter, and
Long Term Need is when you may need
something after a couple of months.
The eye of the storm is a region of mostly calm weather found
at the centre of strong hurricanes, typhoons and tropical cyclones.
A jet stream consists of strong winds which move
weather systems around the globe which can reach up to
200 miles per hour!
A composite volcano is
made up of alternating
layers of lava and ash,
whereas other volcanoes are
just made up of lava.
Tectonic Plates And Boundaries
The tectonic plates are moving because the core heats up magma, and when
it rises it cools and slips back down, and it creates friction which gradually
move the plates.
180 million years ago, all of the continents we know were grouped together as a supercontinent
called Pangaea, which was made up of tectonic plates. There are two types of plates,. continental and
oceanic.
The repeated friction of the magma rising and cooling causes the
plates to slide past each other, and when this happens, an earthquake
occurs, shaking the ground on both sides.
There are four types of plate boundary: Constructive, Destructive,
Collisional and Conservative.
San Francisco Disaster
An earthquake called Loma Prieta hit Northern California on
October 17th in 1989, which had a magnitude of 6.9 and killed
63 people, and 1,000 injuries in just 15 seconds of impacts.
It happened because a conservative plate boundary slid past another in
opposite directions. It is sometimes called a transformative plate margin,
where friction is eventually overcome and the plates slip past in a sudden
movement,
To reduce the effects on earthquakes you could
predict them, or have earthquake training
centres where people can go to experience an
earthquake and know the signs. You could also
install weights on the roof to reduce movement
and automatic window shutters.
Tornadoes
First of all you need cool dry air, warm dry air and warm
moist air mixed together, which rises up and forms
clouds which makes a storm and if winds blow in
different directions it can start rotating. It causes a
funnel to drop out of the cloud, but it only is a hurricane
when it touches the ground.
Avalanches
Snow Layers - Snow on the mountain can turn to ice, and it
becomes very slippery, and if fresh snow falls on top, it can
slide forward and start an avalanche.
Vibrations - Any thing from a person skiing down the slopes
can trigger vibrations which cause avalanches.
Heavy Snowfall - During periods of heavy snow,
snow piles up and when it becomes too heavy it
slides down.
Steep Slopes - They are more likely to
happen on steep slopes as it is easier for
snow to fall down the mountain, due to
gravity.
Wind - The wind causes snow to
drift and collect, and where it
overhangs it is unstable and it
collapses.
To prevent avalanches people close the mountaintops
and then drop dynamite to set off the avalanche so
nobody is hurt by it when they may come across it
later on.
There are people who spot potential avalanches by
looking at maps and past data to see where the next
one could happen.
Deforestation - Trees on the side of the mountain act as anchors, they
hold the snow in place, and if they are cut down the snow becomes
unstable.
Hurricanes
They start in the tropics (Cancer, Capricorn), and the water starts to heat up because
there are no clouds, and the air gets hotter and starts to move and travel upwards. The
warm air funnels inwards, outwards and up and then the vapour cools and condenses
to form thick clouds. The wind causes the water to whip up massive waves .
Hurricane Katrina made 100 million people homeless, 1
million dollars worth of stock was stolen, 85% of New
Orleans was flooded, several oil rigs were damaged, 1200
died and farmers crops were ruined.
Syrian Refugee Crisis
ISIS are a terrorist group who
want to make a new state which
would join parts of Iraq and Syria
together. They have threatened
non-muslims to covert or die, and
have taken control of many parts
of Syria.
Climate Change between 2006 and 2001 brought
severe drought which lasted longer than anyone
expected. This killed 85% of Syria's livestock and
peppers.
The government had bombarded civilian areas
with air strikes, because an insurgent group had
attacked the government positions.
There was also a civil
war, with the
government fighting
rebel groups to gain
control of cities. This
caused 220,000 to be
killed. It started
because lots of
different religions are
fighting against each
other.
Terrorism
Terrorism is where people clash over laws, religion, marriage or
other things that they believe are wrong, which leads to attacks
like hacking, bombing or arson..
Terrorism includes use
or threat of violence,, or
affecting members of the
public.
Desertification
Caused by climate change when land begins to dry out.
Farmers get more desperate and allow their animals to
overgraze on the grass. Plants and tress start to die and
many of them are eaten and die completely. Their roots
are lost and they fly away and become dust, which repeats
until nothing can grow and the land turns into a desert.