Architecture student Magnus Larsson details his bold plan to transform the harsh Sahara desert using bacteria and a surprising construction material: the sand itself. You can find further details and comment on 'Through the Sandglass'.
Aeon EarthWISE used Earthlearningideas during workshops for National Science Teachers, 12th and 13th November in Bloemfontein, South Africa. 68 teachers and 2 learning area facilitators from 26 schools were involved. If you would like to see the powerpoint, click here, (5MB so it takes some time to download).
As you can see Earthlearningidea is gradually spreading across the Earth. The darker the green shading on the map above, the more 'hits' we have had from that country. We have not reached the countries with no colour. These maps are published at the end of every month on our website - click on 'ELI around the world'. There is also a list of our 'top ten' countries and a map of the towns and cities we have reached.
The new activity 'Riches in the river' is an investigation into how valuable ores may become concentrated on river beds. Pupils will explore the importance of differences in density of sand and valuable ore, to see how the ores may become concentrated by the action of moving water.
Pupil learning outcomes: Pupils can
- explain how moving water can separate particles of different density;
- predict where best to look for gold and dense ores on a river bed;
- explain how density differences can be used to separate valuable ores from less dense waste in a commercial situation.
Try this or any of our Earth-related activities and please let us know how you get on.
We are delighted to announce that we now have a page for translations of Earthlearningideas into Tamil. This is thanks to Michael Anjello Jothi Rajan, Associate Professor, Dept. Physics and Head Dept. of Religion and Value Education at Arul Anandar College in Karumathur, Tamil Nadu, India.
Spread out across the top of a hill, nets are coming to the aid of one neighborhood in Lima, Peru. These nets, both simple and slightly absurd, take advantage of the city’s foggy disposition to capture water. One net costs roughly $800 and those nearby benefit from up to 60 litres of water every night to use for drinking, cooking, bathing, and farming. Though this implementation is obviously very site specific, it is encouraging to see sustainable solutions to water crises, especially in an affordable, feasible form.
These photos come from the Earthlearningidea about the porosity of rocks - 'The space within'.
