On Tuesday 7th February nineteen students from local primary schools and academies became disaster managers for the morning at Treviglas. To begin, students worked in collaboration with their peers to plan and construct earthquake proof buildings. Next, their designs then underwent tests to see if they could withstand the impacts of both the gentle primary waves followed by the more lethal secondary waves associated with the earth’s violent movements.

After a short break the budding architects then turned their talents to disaster management and Volcanology. Firstly, students’ assigned themselves the roles of Geologist, information coordinator and disaster manager. By working in teams of three they made decisions about the eruption of Montserrat in the Caribbean, based upon live information from a helicopter flying over the erupting Volcano. To conclude, their decisions were scored based on the outcomes of real events to see if teams had come to the best decision when working under pressure.

Mr Leech, who ran the session, said “the students demonstrated a fantastic knowledge of tectonic Geography and they all worked tremendously well, even when put under real pressure”. By the end of the morning students left fully enthused about the management of tectonic disasters having thoroughly enjoyed the experience, taking their creations back to their respective schools.

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