GEOGRAPHY VR CASE STUDY: Natural Disaster Strikes! (Student Age 7-11)

“This lesson works really well as part of a sequence where students are exploring what causes different disasters around the world; it enables teachers to expand their pupils’ geographical vocabulary by honing their understanding of the Richter Scale, environmental changes and natural phenomenon.”
“This practical session will also provide an insight into intricacies of hurricanes and volcanic activity.”
Andrew Shelton
Educational Specialist
PRACTICAL SESSION
Pre-load the Playlists onto the headsets and begin exploring the external structure of volcanoes. Dig deeper with questions about how you can tell active and dormant volcanoes apart; explore the different between magma and lava and the general structure of volcanoes. To encourage higher order thinking, ask the children to consider why people might choose to live close to volcanoes and discuss the arguments for and against this. Move on to other natural disasters, comparing the impact they have to encourage the children to use analysis and evaluation. Unpick reasons as to why certain countries – some of which are densely populated – might be prone to such disasters, and why settlers hundreds of years ago still chose to live in these locations. Consider unpicking some of the science behind these events and understanding the intricacies of how water temperature, air pressure and tectonic activity can all contribute to these huge events.
IMPACT ON LEARNING
Using immersive visualisations to show the scale, impact and type of damage different natural disasters can cause enables children to appreciate the colossal severity that each event can bring. Equally, by using the Playlists as a trigger for key questioning, the children can use the imagery to scaffold and support their answers. In turn, this will enable them to recall, apply and integrate more subject-specific and complex vocabulary into their responses and thus have a deeper understanding of the geographical and scientific specifics.