Lesson video

Hi geographers.

My name is Mr. Lulege and I can't wait to do this lesson with you today.

We're gonna have a fantastic time in today's lesson, which is Mountains and their features, and that's from our unit, Mountains and Volcanoes.

What, where and why? Some of our learning is tricky today, but I'm here to help and we can learn together.

Let's get started, shall we? By the end of the lesson, you'll be able to recognise and name the key features of a mountain landscape and describe the conditions found on Mount Everest.

Some of the key words we'll be using today are peak, arete, and altitude.

A peak is the highest point of a mountain.

An erect is a narrow ridge of rock between two valleys.

Altitude is height above sea level or ground level.

Our learning today will be split into two parts.

What physical features characterise a mountain, and Mount Everest, what is it like there? So let's begin with our first section.

What physical features characterise a mountain? Let's start with the question, what do you think a mountain is? Have a quick pause of the video to discuss that question with your partner.

Welcome back.

Izzy says, "I think it's a big hill with a pointy top." Did you say something similar? A mountain can be find as a natural raised part of Earth's surface.

This is higher than a hill and rises to at least 600 metres.

The key point from that is that mountains are only classified as mountains if they are 600 metres high or more.

Let's continue.

Okay, another question for you here.

Can you think of any mountains or have you climbed any mountains? This could be anywhere in the world.

Pause the video.

Have a think about that one and tell your partner.

Izzy says, "I have climbed Mt.

Snowdon in Wales.

Have you climbed Mt.

Snowdon?" Mt.

Snowdon, which is called Yr Wyddfa in Welsh, is the highest mountain in Wales.

It is located in the Snowdonia National Park and is 1,085 metres above sea level.

Groups of mountains are called a mountain range.

In the Himalayas where some of the highest mountains in the world are, including Mount Everest, the group of mountains there is called the Himalayan Mountain Range.

Okay, that brings us to our first check for understanding for today.

What are groups of mountains called? Pause the video now to answer that question.

Welcome back.

Did you answer mountain range correctly? Groups of mountains are called a mountain range.

Well done if you got that answer correct.

Mountains have many physical features.

These can be used by people to navigate their way around mountains or used as a reference point when talking about or observing mountains.

Let's go through them one by one.

So here we have the peak, ridge, or arete, scree, snow line, glacier, and treeline.

You may have already identified what each physical feature referred to, but let's look at them in a bit more detail.

All mountains have a top.

Geographically speaking, we call this the peak or the summit.

The challenge of climbing a mountain is to stand on its peak or summit and arete is a sharp ridge of rock formed as glaciers erode the land on either side of them, and arete is commonly referred to as a ridge or ridge line.

Hikers often like walking on ridge lines due to the exposure on both sides.

Grib Goch is a very exposed ridge line that leads to the summit of Snowdon, but is not for the faint-hearted due to the severe drops on either side of the ridge.

Scree.

Scree is a pile of loose rock that is broken away from the mountain and that's due to the action of freezing and thawing ice.

The higher the mountain, the colder the temperature.

This means that some high mountains can have permanent snow all year round.

The snow line marks the lowest point where snow will be found.

Okay, we've got another check for understanding.

Which mountain physical feature matches this description? Loose rock found on the side of a mountain.

Is that A, peak? B, ridge? Or C, scree? Pause the video now to answer that question.

Welcome back.

The correct answer to that question was C.

Scree is the loose rock found on the side of a mountain and you can see it pictured there.

The tree line is the point above which trees cannot grow.

The lack of soil, high winds, and cold temperatures make it a very inhospitable environment for vegetation, especially at heights with large root systems. A glacier is a slow moving body of ice.

When walking mountains with glaciers, people have to be very careful when walking over glaciers as they change slowly over time and huge holes, called crevasses, appear.

Crevasses can be very deep and extremely difficult to get out of, which is why when people walk over crevasses, they're often roped together for safety and carry special tools, like ice axes and crampons.

If you weren't sure, crampons are metal plates with spikes on the bottom that are fit to a boot.

The metal spikes pierce the ice or snow, giving climbers or hikers more stability and less chance of slipping over.

Okay, we've got another check for understanding here.

Which physical feature is this? Pause the video now to answer that question with your partner.

Welcome back.

That physical feature was a ridge or arete, or commonly referred to as a ridge line.

Well done if you answered that question correctly.

We're now onto our first task for today's lesson.

Can you name these physical features and write a definition for each? The physical features to choose from are arete or ridge, glacier, peak, scree, snow line, and tree line.

Pause the video now to complete that task.

Welcome back.

Does your work look like this? And are your definitions similar? So firstly, we have the peak, the ridge or arete, scree, snow line, glacier, and tree line.

A peak is the highest point.

An arete is a narrow ridge of rock between two valleys.

Scree is loose rock found on the side of a mountain.

A glacier is a slow moving body of ice.

A snow line is the altitude on the mountain above which some snow remains on the ground throughout the year.

A tree line is the altitude on the mountain above which it becomes too high for trees to grow.

Well done if you identified those physical features and wrote a similar definition.

We're now onto the second part of our learning today, which is all about Mount Everest.

Mount Everest.

What is it like there? Let's begin.

At 8,848 metres above sea level, Mount Everest is the highest mountain on Earth.

It is just one of 30 peaks in the Himalayan Range.

The name Himalaya is an old Sanskrit word, meaning abode of snow.

The Himalayan complex covers an area of about 594,000 square kilometres of Pakistan, India, Tibet, China, Nepal, and Bhutan.

Let's just check our understanding about what we've just learned there.

How high is Mount Everest? Is it A, 8,448 metres above sea level? B, 8,488 metres.

C, 8,848 metres.

Or D, 8,884 metres above sea level? Pause the video now to answer that question.

Okay, the answer to that question was C, Mount Everest is 8,848 metres above sea level.

Well done if you got that answer correct.

Mount Everest is located on the border of Nepal and the Tibetan region of China.

It is in the Himalayan Mountain Range.

Mount Everest was named after a British surveyor called Sir George Everest in 1849.

However, in Nepal, it is named Sagarmatha, which means goddess of the sky, And in Tibet, it is known as Chomolungma, which means holy mother.

Let's pause and check our understanding here.

What is the Tibetan name for Mount Everest? Is it A, Sagarmatha, B, Chomolungma, or C, Nepal? Pause the video now to answer that question.

The correct answer to that question was Chomolungma.

Well done if you answered that one correct.

That was a tricky one.

Everest is a dangerous environment and provides unique challenges for those that try to climb it.

The first people to reach the summit were Edmund Hillary and Tibetan mountaineer Tenzing Norgay, on 29th of May, 1953.

There have been huge advances in equipment and technology used by people in attempts to summit Mount Everest since Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay first climbed it, but it is still a dangerous and extremely challenging climb today.

By 2023, in the years since the first ascent, over 6,000 people have climbed Mount Everest; many, more than once.

Okay, let's just look at some of the challenges faced with climbing Mount Everest.

Temperatures at the summit drop as low as minus 60 degrees Celsius.

In the hottest month of July, they reach a maximum of minus 18 degrees Celsius.

To put that into a bit of perspective, minus 18 degrees Celsius is the recommended temperature for a domestic freezer.

More than 600 people have also lost their life trying to summit Mount Everest.

The weather at Mount Everest can be very unpredictable.

Raging storms and howling winds move in without warning.

Storms and wind cause avalanches, which can bury climbers and make walking impossible.

Tenzing Norgay described the winds on Everest as being like the roar of 1,000 tigers.

Extremely low temperatures can cause frostbite.

Frostbite is a severe injury caused by freezing of the skin.

Frostbite can also affect any exposed skin, such as your nose or your ears.

In its early stages, frostbite does not cause permanent damage.

However, exposure to extremely low temperatures for any length of time can mean a climber loses the affected body part.

Climbers attempting Mount Everest wear warm clothing to prevent this from happening.

The light can be extremely bright at high altitude, especially when it is reflected off snow.

Eyes can become red and swollen, and climbers can experience a temporary loss of sight.

This is called snow blindness.

With treatment, which is eye drops and eye patches, sight is regained in a day or two.

However, the danger lies when a climber experiences snow blindness while on the mountain.

The air can be very thin at high altitudes.

The lack of oxygen can make climbers feel weak and nauseous.

This is called altitude sickness.

Less oxygen to the brain can also result in bad decision-making and even hallucinations, putting their own and others' lives in danger.

To cure altitude sickness, climbers need to walk or to be stretchered down the mountain to lower altitudes.

The death zone is a term applied to altitude over 8,000 metres where there's not enough oxygen to support life.

A side effect of loss of oxygen is an increased breathing rate, from 20 to 30 breaths per minute at sea level, to 80 to 90.

Let's check our understanding again here of what we've just learned.

How do you cure altitude sickness? A, by wearing protective snow goggles.

B, by wearing warm, waterproof clothing.

C, returning down the mountain or D, using eyedrops and eye patches.

Pause the video now and answer that question with your partner.

Welcome back.

The answer to that question was C.

To cure altitude sickness, you need to return down the mountain and that's either by walking down or being stretchered.

Well done if you answered that question correctly.

We are now onto our second task for today's lesson.

I'd like you to write a letter home as an Everest climber.

Include geographical facts about the mountain and include information on the temperature, weather, and hazards you have experienced.

Pause the video now to go and complete that task.

Welcome back.

Does your work include some of the following information? Mount Everest, at 8,848 metres, is the highest mountain on Earth and poses unique challenges for those who climb it.

On our climb, the temperatures were as low as minus 32 degrees Celsius.

We were fortunate enough not to be climbing when it can get as low as minus 60 degrees.

Most of our climb was in clouds or sun, but as we finished our descent, a storm was starting.

We felt tired and weak at the highest altitude, but we made it to the summit and we felt better once we were back down.

Well done if your work included similar information.

That now takes us to the end of our lesson.

Let's quickly summarise what we've learned today.

We have learned that a mountain is classified as over 600 metres high and groups of mountains form a range, or mountain range.

Mountains have common physical features.

They have a peak, ridge or arete, tree line, snow line, glacier, and scree.

And lastly, we've learned that Mount Everest, at 8,848 metres, is the highest mountain on Earth and poses unique challenges for those who climb it.

You've been fantastic today.

Well done for all your hard work and hope to see you again for some more brilliant geography.

Goodbye.