Monday 28 December 2015

Special Earthlearningidea Fairytale

To celebrate this holiday season, we have published a special ELI geological fairytale, 'Once upon a time, long, long ago . . . '

This is 'a once a pun a time geological tale' and pupils can groan loudly at every 'joke'. You only need a very strange imagination to write a similar story. Please send them to us to publish.
And the moral of the story? - geologists should not mess with prose.
We apologise to all our translators; we don't think this will work in any other language!

Monday 21 December 2015

Sensory treasure hunt

Another ELI Early years is published today. This activity is great fun, especially if all the objects chosen have a holiday theme.
'Sensory treasure hunt; using senses to match objects with similar properties' 


This activity has endless potential and can be used in many ways. It is best carried out outside where there is plenty of space but can equally well be enjoyed in the classroom or home. Children can work at their own pace with the faster and more able investigating uses and other properties such as the object’s ability or not to change shape. The words fulfil many literacy requirements and children can try to apply them to other objects.
Lots of other ELI Early years ideas can be found on our website.

Monday 14 December 2015

Bringing a fossil 'back to life'

An activity that is great fun for the end of term:-
'Running the fossilisation film backwards; bringing a fossil ‘back to life’'


Your pupils will have great fun pretending to be fossils which gradually come back to life. Ask the pupils to imagine a film being taken of an animal as it dies and sinks to the ground before being fossilised. They then ‘run the film backwards', imagining in reverse how the animal actually did sink to the ground and how it lived before that fatal moment.
Perhaps they can take some video clips of their actions; we will publish the best of these so please send them to us!

Monday 7 December 2015

Pirates and buried treasure - new ELI Early years

New for ELI Early years is 'Pirates and buried treasure; grouping and sorting a variety of objects'.


This activity involves identifying, describing and grouping a selection of objects, including Earth-related objects, into various categories. The activity can fit into any teaching scheme where grouping of objects is required but it can also be included in literacy and numeracy programmes.
This is one of a growing number of Earthlearningideas suitable for young children; all can be seen on our website.

Monday 30 November 2015

Which power source?

'Which power source? – solving the crisis in Kiama; searching for all the power sources that could be developed in a mythical country'.
Kiama has a power crisis. It used to get all its power from oil supplied by Turaba, the country next door. But there has been a border dispute in the Barotsi Hills region – and Turaba has cut off all oil supplies.

Ask your pupils to study the map for clues to all the different power sources Kiama might develop instead. Ask them to work in groups to:
• write a list of all the power sources that could be developed;
• put the list of power sources into a table and list the advantages and disadvantages of each (for example some may be renewable, some may be cheaper or easier to develop than others, etc.);
• decide on the four best options and prepare a presentation on why these choices have been made.
After completing the activity, pupils can:
• list a range of potential power resources for a country;
• debate the advantages and disadvantages of each of the power sources;
• decide on the best options and explain their decisions.
Many more activities about power sources can be found on the website.

Monday 23 November 2015

Activities to simulate features in the field

The new ELI today is 'Interactive re-creation; activities using simple transportable apparatus to simulate features in the field'
Demonstrate bedding, laminations, cross bedding, ripple marks, folding, faulting and shelly limestone - all with simple equipment. These activities help pupils to understand what they are seeing.
Many more ideas for activities out of doors can be downloaded from the website.

Monday 16 November 2015

Earthlearningideas in the Amazon

Professor Roberto Greco from the Institute of Geosciences, Campinas State University, Brazil, has sent the following report:-
Earth Learning Idea workhops  have reached the heart of the Amazon forest! In this very special environmental so far from everywhere, where the huge Amazon River crosses the country, how can Earth Science be taught in an interesting, engaging way? We decided to present ELI activities; we found that both teachers and trainee teachers were very enthusiastic about them.
5th to 8th November, II Seminar of Physical Geography of the Amazon was organized by the State University of Amazonia (UEA) and coordinated by Professor Reginaldo  Luiz Fernandes de Souza: the ELI workshop was offered to geography teacher-trainees. The workshop was held on Parintins island. (Parintins is popular with tourists, especially in June when there is a folklore festival.) The day after the workshop the students investigated some field activities and visited some local schools.
Professor Charlei Aparecido da Silva of the Universida de Federal de Grande Dourados, was one of the lecturers of the Seminar, giving an amazing lecture on research techniques in physical geography and climatology. He became very enthusiastic about Earthlearningideas and would like to organize ELI workshops in his university in Mato Grosso do Sul State next year.

9th November, more ELI workshops in another unit of UEA in Manaus, organized by Professor Flávio Wachholz.
ELI workshops about soils and seminars about teaching soils were offered by Professor Roberto Greco and Professor Francisco Ladeira. Professor Regina Celia de Oliveira talked about the educational relevance of field activities.

All the professors are from the University of  Campinas, where the translations of ELI from English to Brazilian-Portuguese take place.
All photos from these workshops may be seen in the Photo Gallery on the website.

Monday 9 November 2015

Erosion - questions you can ask at any rock face

Today's new ELI is 'Question you can ask at any rock face 2: erosion'.
Erosion is ‘The removal of solid material, by gravity, water, wind or ice’ and so is the beginning of transportation. Take your pupils to an area of loose rock beneath a rock face, preferably with water-formed gullies leading away – and ask the questions listed in the activity.
The effects of erosion by gravity are usually clear at any exposure (broken angular fragments or boulders at the base of the rock face) and fans of water-moved material are also common. Eroded fragments can also be found at the bases of most walls too.
Although weathering is distinct from erosion, weathering and erosion usually work together; rocks are weakened by weathering and the weakened material is removed by erosion.
Lots more thought-provoking activities can be found on our website.

Monday 2 November 2015

Popular ELI in October - How earthquakes affect buildings

A very popular activity in October was 'Shaken but not stirred; how earthquakes affect buildings.'

This is a teacher-led demonstration of the relationship between the frequency of the shaking of the ‘ground’ and the movement of model ‘buildings’ of various heights. The activity can be used to help students to explore the effects of earthquakes in densely populated areas, and to dispel misconceptions about the relative safety of high rise buildings in seismically active regions.
Many more innovative ideas for teaching about earthquakes can be found either by using the search engine or by browsing the index on our website.

Monday 26 October 2015

Weathering - questions you can ask at any rock face

Today's new ELI is 'Questions you can ask at any rock face 1: weathering'. This activity helps teachers to ask suitable investigative questions about weathering anywhere where rocks are exposed.

Many more ideas for teaching weathering can be seen on the website.

Tuesday 20 October 2015

Watch the moving sediment in a bottle gutter

Try this extension idea to an earlier ELI - 'Moving sediment in an even smaller bottle gutter; using cut-off plastic bottles as ‘stream tables’ so that all pupils can take part'.
You can see nearly all the sediment movement visible in the ‘Mighty river in a small gutter’ Earthlearningidea activity at the scale of a cut off 2 litre bottle. The advantage of using cut-off bottles is that all groups in the class can carry out the activity at the same time.
Sediment movement seen:
- Erosion hollow where the water is poured in
- Transportation of the sand down the bottle (by rolling, sliding and jumping grains)
- Deposition of sand in the pool at the bottom – in a small micro- delta
(High energy flow = erosion; moderate energy
flow = transportation; lower energy flow = deposition)

Monday 12 October 2015

Questions for any rock face - planning for field work

The new ELI today begins a new series which deals with questions you can ask when standing in front of any exposure of rocks and soil. We start with  Planning for field work; preparing your pupils before setting out to "ask questions for any rock face".
Pupils are asked the following questions:-
- Why are we going outside? Can’t we just look at rocks in the nice warm classroom?
- What hazards might we meet on the walk from school, and what should we do to be safe and comfortable?
- What dangers might we meet at the rock face? How can we stay safe?
- What are we going to do when we get there?
- What equipment do we need to take with us?
More ideas for fieldwork can be found on our website and, of course, all the questions you can ask at a rock face from weathering to fossils to folding to economic use will be published over the next few months.

Monday 5 October 2015

Playground planets - solar system to scale

'Playground planets' models the relative sizes of the planets and their distances from the Sun.
One of our readers has sent us a video clip which puts the distances into perspective. Click here to view.

Others ideas can be seen in the extension to this activity.
More 'Earth in Space' activities can be found on our website.

Monday 28 September 2015

Sand on a sill - a rock cycle discussion

The new ELI today is 'Sand on a sill; what will happen to a sand grain left on a window sill? - a rock cycle discussion'
This discussion activity has been devised to encourage pupils to think about rock cycle processes in the context of the area outside their own school. By leading the small group discussion using questions such as: ‘What might happen next?’, ‘And then?’ or ‘Can you think of another idea?’, teachers should be able to encourage pupils to consider a range of different processes and products of the rock cycle and how these link to other Earth cycles.
This Earthlearningidea is an international collaborative research project 
The project derived from a discussion on research into Earth science education at the International Geoscience Education Organisation conference, GeoSciEd VII, in Hyderabad, India in 2014.
Please take part in this project by filling in the Observer Evaluation sheet and returning it to the Earthlearningidea Team. You may also find the Group Prompt sheet helpful


Monday 21 September 2015

Ripple marks on paving slabs?

Have you every wondered what caused the ripple marks you can often see on paving slabs? Try the Earthlearningidea 'Sand ripple marks in a washbowl'. You can now demonstrate this out of doors by using an empty CD container, as shown in this extension idea.


There are lots more ideas for teaching Earth science outside the classroom on our website.

Monday 14 September 2015

How do you conserve a geodiversity site?

Today's new Earthlearningidea is 'So, you want to conserve a geodiversity site?' 


If you found the most amazing geological site, like one of those shown in the photos, and thought it should be conserved for all to see, for many years to come, what could you do? This is a planning activity focussed on conserving a site of geoscientific importance.
After doing this activity pupils can:
- explain why a geological site is valuable and important;
- describe the different factors that need to be taken into account to preserve a geodiversity site;
- prepare a case to be presented to others arguing for the conservation of a geological site.
Many more teaching ideas about the environment can be found in Teaching strategies on the website.

Monday 7 September 2015

Demonstrate the water cycle, latent heat and global energy transfer

'Cycling water and heat in the lab – and the globe; demonstrating the water cycle, latent heat and global energy transfer'


This ELI is a laboratory demonstration of the water cycle that can be used to develop thinking skills and to understand latent heat transfer and its global effects.
This is the last in a series about the water cycle; other ELIs can be found under 'Watery activities in Teaching strategies on the website.

Monday 31 August 2015

What drives the plates?

The new ELI today is 'What drives the plates? - using a pupil model to demonstrate that slab pull is the main plate-driving force'

Recent evidence has shown that the traditional view of mantle convection being the main driving force in lithospheric plate movement is probably incorrect. If it were the main driving force, then plates with the largest surface area would move fastest because they would have the largest area on which the mantle convection forces would act – this is not the case. However, those plates that have the longest subducting margins, with geophysical evidence of the deepest subduction slabs, do seem to be moving fastest – which is why this is now considered to be the main driving force. A fourth force that might be important is subduction suction where the old, cold oceanic plate subduction trench migrates towards the oceanic ridge pulling the over-riding plate behind it. Some geophysicists argue that this is an important driver of plate movement.
There are many plate tectonic ELIs on our website.

Monday 24 August 2015

‘Tagging’ water molecules – to explore the water cycle

Have you tried this thought experiment to investigate the water cycle? "‘Tagging’ water molecules – to explore the water cycle" is one of a series of ELIs about the water cycle.


Pupils carry out a thought experiment to visualise the movement of an imaginary ‘tagged’ bright blue water molecule as it moves through various parts of the water cycle. Molecules can actually be ‘tagged’ and traced using radioactive isotopes, so the principle is used – if not the bright blue colour.
There are five Earthlearningidea Water Cycle activities and they demonstrate pupils' progression of thinking skills. They can be found in the index on the website under 'Water cycle'.

Monday 17 August 2015

Evidence for continental drift

'Did the continents move for you?' In this ELI+ activity, pupils plot the movement of continents using apparent polar wandering curves.

By doing this Earthlearningidea pupils can:-
- appreciate that magnetic minerals become magnetised in the direction of the Earth’s magnetic field;
- by recording this remanent magnetisation, it is possible to construct apparent polar wandering curves for each continent;
- realise that the magnetic pole has not wandered but the apparent curve can be used to determine the position of the continents at the time of the formation of the rocks with the magnetic minerals;
- the apparent polar wandering curves give good evidence for continental drift.
Other related activities can be found on the website.

Monday 10 August 2015

Fossilise! A game about fossils

A rainy day in the holidays? Try 'Fossilise!' This ELI is a game about how fossils form and survive. You collect cards as you play the game and, of course, everyone wants to win to collect the Gold Nugget card.


You will need copies of the game and the cards, some scissors to cut out the cards and counters, dice and shakers.
More activities for children to try at home can be found on our website, although they will need adult supervision as they are designed primarily for use in schools.

Monday 3 August 2015

Karstic scenery - modelling chemical weathering

The new ELI published today is 'Karstic scenery - in 60 seconds: modelling the chemical weathering of limestone'.

 In this activity pupils compare the results of water on sugar cubes with features which develop as a result of the chemical weathering of limestone.
Many more activities about weathering can be seen on the home page of our website under 'Activities related to the new ELI'.

Saturday 1 August 2015

Monday 27 July 2015

The mineral foundations of everyday life

The Earthlearningidea 'The mineral foundations of everyday life' involves a matching exercise, where pupils are asked to match photographs of everyday objects with photographs of the minerals from which they are manufactured.

This activity can be used in a variety of circumstances, e.g. in revision of a minerals topic by relating photographs to some minerals which pupils have already encountered. It could feature in a geology lesson, or in discussion of the
mineral wealth of a country.
There are many more activities about minerals on our website; the search facility will find them for you.

Monday 20 July 2015

Weathering limestone - with my own breath!

Today's new ELI is 'Weathering limestone – with my own breath! - a classroom demonstration of how limestone is weathered'
This is a pupil activity, or a demonstration, involving blowing into neutral water to produce a weak carbonic acid. Powdered limestone is added to neutralise the acid, as a quick-acting laboratory example of how limestone is weathered by rain (a weak carbonic acid) in the natural world.
Lots of activities to do with weathering can be found in the list of 'Activities related to the new ELI' on our website.

Sunday 12 July 2015

How fast am I travelling (due to Earth's spin and Earth's orbit)?

'A screaming roller coaster; how fast am I travelling (due to Earth's spin and Earth's orbit)?'


After the class roller-coaster experience, ask your pupils ‘Why were we acting like this?’ The answer is that you are all travelling very fast towards the East - due to the spin of the Earth. If you are on the Equator you are travelling at 1,674.4 km/h. To calculate how fast you’re travelling at your latitude, multiply
1,674.4 km/h by the cosine of your latitude – for example, the speed in London is: 1,674.4 x cos 51.5 = 1,042 km/h (647 miles per hour!)
Work out how fast you are travelling at your latitude.
Lots more teaching ideas can be found on our website.

Monday 6 July 2015

'Tag' a carbon atom - and explore the carbon cycle

Just published - 'Tag' a carbon atom - and explore the carbon cycle; a thought experiment to investigate carbon cycle processes.


This activity asks pupils to ‘visualise’ stages of the carbon cycle by ‘following’ a ‘tagged’ carbon atom.
Visualising the movement of a carbon atom through various elements of the carbon cycle involves creativity and imagination as well as the use of bridging skills to apply the carbon cycle diagram to reality.
There are lots more carbon-related ELIs on our website.

Wednesday 1 July 2015

Popular ELI in June - Space survival

A popular ELI in June was 'Space survival: How could we survive a year in a dome? Pupils plan to survive for a year in a sealed dome in a desert'.

What will they take with them? They can order whatever they want but think about the following questions:-
• What are you going to breathe?
• What are you going to drink? How will you collect fresh water?
• What are you going to eat? Will you be vegetarian? If not, how will you get meat?
• What is your likely water/oxygen/food consumption per day?
• How will you dispose of waste?
• What energy source will you use? How will you use it?
• How will you produce power?
• How will you control temperature?
• What will your medical requirements be?
• What are you going to do when you get there? Who will do which jobs?
• What else will you need to consider?
Pupils soon discover that they need to know the water, carbon and nitrogen cycles and how to manage people!
This is an excellent end-of-term activity.
Many more ideas can be found on our website.

Monday 29 June 2015

Make your own rain

Have you tried the ELI 'Mini-world water cycle; a water cycle demonstration model in a box'?

Make a sandy ‘beach’ in the box and add the shallow ‘sea’. Switch on the lamp (‘Sun’) and wait for a few minutes for the water to become warm (or ‘cheat’ by adding warm water from the kettle). Add the freezer pack to cause the effect of cooling air which will form ‘clouds’. After a time, the water droplets that condense on the underside of the box lid beneath the cool ‘clouds’ grow, and fall to the beach as ‘rain’.
This is one of many 'watery ELIs; other ideas can be found on the website in Teaching strategies.

Monday 22 June 2015

Why is the fossil record incomplete? Survival of the toughest

The new ELI published today is 'Shell shake - survival of the toughest; why is the fossil record incomplete?'
In this activity, pupils deliberately smash a variety of seashells to see which ones are strong enough to remain recognisable, and which ones are so weak that they would leave little or no evidence of their existence. This leads pupils to realise that the fossil record is often biased.
This is one of the many Earthlearningideas about fossils and erosion; search our website for more.

Monday 15 June 2015

The balloon goes up at Krakatoa

'The balloon goes up at Krakatoa; using a tank and balloon to simulate the huge tsunamis caused by the eruption of Krakatoa'
The eruption of Krakatoa in Indonesia in 1883 was truly awesome. The sound was, by far, the loudest sound ever recorded; the loudest sound in modern history. It travelled more than 3000 km to central Australia, where it woke up sleeping people, and 4800 km to islands in the Indian Ocean, where they thought there was a gunbattle offshore.
While the eruption itself was awesome, it was the tsunamis that caused all the deaths – so how were these tsunamis formed? Nobody really knows the exact mechanism, since no one was there at the time. One theory is that, after the caldera had been formed, a side of the volcano slumped into the sea, causing the tsunamis. A second theory is that, when the magma chamber collapsed, huge volumes of sea water poured into the space and then slopped out again, causing
the tsunamis. If this last theory is correct, you can recreate your own ‘Krakatoan tsunamis’ in the classroom, as demonstrated by these Spanish students.


Wednesday 10 June 2015

Roadstones - important note

The Earthlearningidea team is sorry but the activity published last Monday has been replaced with a revised version.
Please download the activity again if you have already downloaded the original copy - Roadstone - which rock?

Monday 8 June 2015

Roadstone - which rock?

The new ELI, published today, is 'Roadstone - which rock?' This activity asks pupils to investigate which rock types are best for the wearing course of roads.

 After completing the activity, pupils can:
• measure grain size of a selection of rocks;
• use six criteria to determine the best choice of rock for the wearing course of a road;
• realise that, because of the high cost of transporting aggregate, slightly inferior rocks are often used;
• appreciate that limestone, although not suitable for motorways, is extensively used because it is readily available.
This investigation can be carried out as a revision exercise of the major rock types in science, environmental science, geography or economics lessons.
Many more teaching ideas can be found on our website.

Monday 1 June 2015

Popular ELI in May - The space within - the porosity of rocks

A popular Earthlearningidea in May was "The space within - the porosity of rocks; investigating the amount of pore space between the 'grains' of a model 'rock'"
Underground water supplies and reserves of oil and gas depend on the presence of porous rocks, which are capable of holding such fluids in their pore spaces.
The lesson could form part of an investigation in science or in geography, or could be used when pupils are trying to understand why their country has, or lacks, good underground water, oil and gas resources.
Lots more good teaching ideas can be found on our website.

Monday 25 May 2015

Slope failure

The new ELI today is 'Failing slopes; modelling how rock cliffs and slopes can collapse
 

This activity encourages pupils to investigate the factors which affect the angle of slope at which materials fail and slip. The idea could be used in a lesson on slope failure itself, or as an application of the physics of friction. Results obtained from an actual investigation are recorded in the activity.
More activities related to slopes and landslides can be found on the website.

Monday 18 May 2015

Earthlearningidea photo gallery

Some more photos have been added to our photo gallery, sent to us from Catalonia in Spain.
Students have been trying out some of our 'Identifying minerals' activities
'Be a mineral expert 1'
'Be a mineral expert 2'
'Identifying minerals - use your sense(s)!' 


They have also tried making wax volcanoes, 'Volcano in the lab'


And 'Time-line in your own backyard'


To view the ELI Photo gallery, click here.

Monday 11 May 2015

Modelling ancient and modern magnetic fields

New Earthlearningidea - 'Human magnets!' This involves using your pupils to model ancient and modern magnetic fields.
Iron-rich minerals in igneous rocks, such as magnetite, may become magnetised as the rock crystallises from the molten state, and then cools down below a critical temperature. This temperature is known as the Curie Point. The direction of magnetisation is induced in the solid rock and records the direction of the magnetic field of the Earth, at that place and at that time.
The activity can be used to aid the understanding of remanent magnetisation in rocks. This in turn provides evidence of past magnetic fields of the Earth and is of great value in demonstrating the former latitudes of the continents, before their plate tectonic movement.
Other good ideas to teach the Earth's magnetism can be found on our website.

Monday 4 May 2015

Beginning to identify minerals

The ELI 'Be a mineral expert 1; beginning to identify minerals' introduces colour, habit, lustre and cleavage as ways of identifying one mineral from another. The activity uses simple visual tests to identify a set of ‘unknown’ minerals. This is the first in a series of activities on minerals which can be used in a variety of lessons, ranging from the nature of minerals as the ‘building blocks’ of rocks to the origins and recycling of useful elements in the Earth.
Many more activities about minerals and rocks can be found on our website.

Monday 27 April 2015

Hotspots; modelling the movement of a plate across the globe

Today's new Earthlearningidea is 'Hotspots; modelling the movement of a plate across the globe'.
Use a candle and a piece of card to model the evidence of the movement of a tectonic plate over a fixed heat source in the Earth’s mantle. This activity can be used in any lesson in a science or geography class dealing with plate tectonics. There are many more ideas for teaching this topic on our website.

Monday 20 April 2015

Panning for 'gold' in river sediment

Have you tried the Earthlearningidea, 'Gold prospectors'?

In this activity pupils are Iinvestigating how prospectors use the property of density to search for gold in river sediments. By doing this ELI, pupils develop motor skills as they experiment with the best method of separating materials; they can explain why density is a useful property in the separation of materials and can use their imaginations to visualise a real gold prospector in the field.
Another Earthlearningidea which used density of minerals for separation is 'Jigging'
This is a simple practical activity used to separate minerals of different density from each other. It is a small scale version of a method which was used for centuries.
Search the website for more ELIs about minerals and density.

Monday 13 April 2015

What's the difference between weathering and erosion?

Today's new ELI addresses the common misconceptions about weathering and erosion.

Textbook surveys have shown that misconceptions between weathering and erosion are common, when the scientific consensus is clear:-
- Weathering is the break up and break down (physical break up and chemical breakdown) of rocks at the Earth’s surface without the removal of solid material (although material can be removed in solution)
- Erosion is the removal of solid material, by gravity, water, wind or ice (as the start of transportation).
The related activities on the home page of our website lists some ideas for teaching both weathering and erosion.

Monday 6 April 2015

Make your own soil profile

Another ELI in our soils series is 'Soil layers puzzle'. Seven soil layers cards are provided and pupils are asked to arrange them in the correct order to make a soil profile. They are then encouraged to compare different soil profiles from different parts of the world.
Many more soils activities can be found on our website using the search engine or the index or by clicking on Teaching strategies.

Monday 30 March 2015

Bouncing back after the Ice Age

Today's new Earthlearningidea activity is 'Isostasy 2; 'bouncing back' after the ice. This idea demonstrates the effects on a continental land mass of a large ice sheet growing and then melting. This ELI can be used in any lessons related to balance in the Earth’s lithosphere and those dealing with glaciation and its after effects.
The photograph above shows “Celsius’ Rock” on the Baltic coast of Sweden, about 175 km north of Stockholm. Anders Celsius marked the mean sea level in 1731, which is now where the man’s hand is holding the 2m tape. Current sea level is now about 2m below Celsius’ mark, indicating a rise of the land at a rate of about 70cm per century. Several former ports on the Baltic coast are now high and dry as a result of the rise of the land – with detrimental outcomes for their economies.
Click on the website for related activities or search 'Teaching strategies'.

Monday 23 March 2015

Solar eclipse

Last Friday, many people were watching the solar eclipse. Perhaps it's a good time to try the ELI 'Why does the Sun disappear?' This activity demonstrates how a small object, which is near, can block out the view of a much larger one that is further away. Do you think the Sun and the Moon often appear to be the same size in the sky? In fact, they are not the same size at all and yet the Moon can block out the Sun completely, so that it goes quite dark. This is called a total eclipse of the Sun (or a solar eclipse).


The image above is from the NASA website. The photo below shows the recent eclipse as viewed through a colander!
You could also try the ELI 'Eclipse the lollipop' which models eclipses of the Moon and the Sun with a ball, lollipops and a bright light.
Search our website for lots more innovative and exciting teaching ideas.

Monday 16 March 2015

Modelling the state of 'balance' of the Earth's outer layers - isostasy

Today's new ELI is 'Isostasy 1; modelling the state of 'balance' of the Earth's outer layers'. Isostasy is essentially the principle of hydrostatic equilibrium applied to the Earth, otherwise called ‘buoyancy’. You can model this principle using wooden blocks floating in water and in a denser medium.

Lots of activities about the structure of the Earth can be found on our website.