Questions to ask at any rock face about tilted and folded rocks

Our fieldwork series continues with 'Questions for any rock face 7: tilted or folded rocks; what questions about tilting and folding might be asked at any rock exposure?'
Bedded sediments that were originally laid down horizontally, often became tilted as part of the limbs of larger folds; sometimes the folds themselves can be seen in the rock face. Take the pupils to some tilted or folded rocks and ask them the questions provided. They will then be able to:-
- explain how tilted rocks form parts of larger-scale folds;
- work out the directions of the stresses which caused the deformation of the tilted and folded rocks;
- explain how hard rocks may have been deformed in the geological past;
- explain how rock deformation results from enormous stresses – stresses only possible from plate collision.
Lots more activities related to tilted and folded rocks may be found on the ELI website.

Ice power - physical weathering

'Ice power; freezing water in a syringe to measure expansion'.

This activity may be used in either science or geography lessons on weathering. It can also be used in discussions of molecular theory and changes of state. For the most accurate measurements use pure (distilled or deionised) water at as near to 4 degrees C as possible.
Many more activities associated with weathering can be found by using the search engine or index on our website.

New ELI - Questions to ask about fossils when looking at rocks

The new ELI just published is 'Questions to ask at any rock face 6: fossils. What questions about fossils might be asked at any rock exposure?'

- What happened to these animals/plants just after they died?
- Were they buried where they were or moved around, sorted out and broken up?
- As they were being buried, what might they have looked like, smelled like?
- After they were buried, how did they change?
- Why are some types of organism much more commonly fossilised than others?
- What can fossils tell us about a deposit?
Other related activities can be found on the home page of our website.

Volcano simulator

Earthlearningidea has lots of activities related to volcanoes and volcanic eruptions.
'Eruption through the window' 
'See how they run'
'Blow up your own volcano'
'Volcano in the lab'
As an excellent addition to these is the VOLCANO SIMULATOR developed by the Alaska Museum of Science & Nature.

You can change the silica content and see the resulting rock type, change the type of eruption and type of volcano. According to the type you have chosen you will be able to see what it looks like in the day and at night, read the pressure, lava temperature and lava viscosity and see the accompanying seismograph. Brilliant!!

Record number of activity downloads in February

We have just completed our monthly analysis of Earthlearningidea and are very pleased to announce another record. There were 63,176 downloads of our activities in all our translated languages across the world in February.

Further details may be found on the ELI in the world page of the website.
Many thanks to our hundreds of supporters. Please keep the ideas coming!