Igneous rocks used as building stones

To continue our theme of building stones, we have added 'Building stones 2 - Igneous rocks'.  This is a small group activity using photographs of igneous rocks used for ornamental purposes. This ELI follows ‘Building Stones 1’ and is intended for pupils to deepen their understanding of igneous rocks. A table showing how the series of Earthlearningidea building stone activities link together is given on the final page.
Visit our website for lots more hands-on activities.

ELI translated into Catalan!

We are delighted to announce the publication of our first Earthlearningidea into Catalan. Many thanks to Xavier Juan, vice-president of AEPECT (Asociación Española para la enseñanza de las Ciencas de la Tierra) and Spanish coordinator for Science across the world.
The first activity to be translated is Còctel erosiu or, in English, 'Rock, rattle and roll'. This activity investigates rock resistance and helps pupils to understand why mountains and hills are generally made of more resistant rock than valleys and lowland.


The ELI team would be very grateful if someone could send a better short video clip than the one we are using to demonstrate this activity!

Do-it-yourself dip and strike model

Our latest ELI, published today, is 'The DIY dip and strike model'. This activity uses a model to measure dip, dip direction, strike and apparent dip. It includes a clinometer that your pupils can make for themselves. Pupils are asked to make a model that they can then keep, reminding them how dip and strike are measured and how apparent dips differ from true
dip.
This activity is one of the progression and spiralling of spatial thinking skills shown by the Earthlearningidea ‘Geological mapwork from scratch’ exercises and the ‘Geological mapwork from models’ exercises.
All of these can be found on our website in the 'Investigating the Earth' category.

Partial melting extension idea

We have just published an extension idea for our ELI 'Partial melting - simple process, huge global impact'. This activity explains how partial melting, coupled with plate tectonics, has changed the chemistry of the planet.
The reason why partial melting occurs in different geological environments is sometimes difficult for students to comprehend. This extension idea is a visual method used to demonstrate this concept in the classroom.

Testing scientific ideas in an old graveyard

'Will my gravestone last?' is the latest Earthlearningidea, published today. It is part of the series of activities related to our major new building stones resource and is an excellent way to take pupils out of doors to carry out scientific investigations and to see a wide range of rock types. All the preparations that need to be made to take pupils on such a visit are listed in the activity, together with lots of hypotheses which could be tested during their survey. The sheets of scaled photographs from the ELI Building stones 1 should be used for this activity.
Please let us know how you get on; we will publish any photos, results sheets, graphs etc that your pupils produce - email contact.