Using rock evidence to colour the geological past

"What colour was the world in the past? - using rock evidence and ‘the present is the key to the past’ to colour the geological world."

This ELI involves a discussion, using the colours of unweathered surface rocks and ‘the present is the key to the past’ to give a coloured picture of past geological worlds.

Related activities can be found in our 'Environment' category.

How did the conditions differ between today and when the rock was formed?

Our ELI today is 'Now and then – spotting the difference; how did the conditions differ between today and when the rock was formed?'

This ELI is a thought experiment, attempting to compare various aspects of the environment when the rock was formed, with conditions today.

Related activities can be found in our Environment category.

What was it like to be there when that rock was forming?

'What was it like to be there – in the rocky world? - bringing the formation of solid rock to life – by imagining yourself there when it formed'.

This activity asks pupils questions relating to all the senses to try to bring past environments of the formation of rocks to life.

Related Earthlearningideas can be found in our Rocks section of the Earth Materials category.

How to work out the lifestyles of extinct animals

Our ELI today is 'Curious creatures; using fossil and modern evidence to work out the lifestyles of extinct animals'.

This activity provides a snapshot of the history of life on Earth.

Related activities can be found in our 'Evolution of Life' category - fossils (mostly invertebrates)

How did ammonites try to escape their predators?

And now for something completely different . . . 'The ups and downs of ammonites; how did ammonites adjust their position in the sea'.

This activity demonstrates how some animals which are buoyant in water can change their depth in the sea.

Related activities about fossils can be found in our Evolution of Life category - Fossils (mostly invertebrates).

Identifying rocks

This is the second ELI about identifying rocks in an outdoor collection - 'A forgotten rock garden - 2; help a geologist identify a treasured outdoor collection'.

This activity involves matching a set of photographs to their descriptions and locating them on an overall scene. It could form a useful revision activity, once pupils have acquired experience of a range of rocks. The answers are provided in the text.

Related activities can be found in 'Rocks' in our Earth Materials category.

How do minerals like tin and lead form? - a demonstration of hydrothermal mineralisation?

How do hydrothermal minerals form? Our ELI today gives the answer - "Interactive hydrothermal mineralisation: ‘the rock with the hole’ hydrothermal mineralisation demo".

This ELI is a demonstration of how hydrothermal fluids flow through rocks, presented in a way to interact with pupils.

Other activities related to minerals can be found in our Earth Materials, Minerals category.

Investigating catastrophic natural processes in your region in the geological past

Our Earthlearningidea today is 'What catastrophic natural processes affected your region in the geological past? Use the evidence in your local region to interpret dramatic geological events.'

This activity involves Interpreting photographic evidence of catastrophic events in the geological past – how could this thinking be applied to your area?

Related activities can be found in our Natural Hazards category.

Natural hazards in your local area

Following the devastating destruction by hurricane Melissa in Jamaica, we are exploring possible natural hazards that could occur in your area - - 'Which natural hazards could damage the area where you live? How safe is your home area?'

This activity encourages pupils to look around their local region to suggest what natural hazards might affect it in the future.

Related activities can be found in our Natural Hazards category.

Working out the geological history from photographs

The new ELI today is 'Some classic Scottish geology revealed; how good are you at establishing a geological history from photographs?'

In this activity pupils are asked to examine photographic evidence to establish a geological history of a small area, and to assess the reliability of their conclusions.

Related activities can be found in our Geological Time category - Stratigraphy and Sequences.

Local impact of government's 'net-zero' targets for carbon emissions

Continuing our 'green' theme -  'How will the ‘net-zero’ target affect your local area? - assessing the local impact of the government’s ‘net-zero’ targets for carbon emissions'

This activity involves discussions about how climate change mitigation and adaptation measures might affect your local area.

Other related activities can be found on our 'net zero carbon emissions' page of the website.

Power from the wind

Our ELI today is 'Farming the wind – through onshore and offshore windfarms; a discussion on the local and national potential of developing wind energy sources'.

In this activity, data and perspectives on electricity generation by wind farms are provided to support a debate on their local and national potential.

Related activities can be found in our Climate change 'Net Zero' emissions target category.

Rocks are time capsules; each has an amazing story to tell

 'A rock is a time capsule – a message from the past; bringing to life the extraordinary stories of ordinary rocks'

When we see a rock as a bundle of evidence of how the Earth used to be, we can begin to look for the clues that tell us about its past history, and the past history of the planet.

Related activities can be found in our Visualising deep time category and in our Rocks category.

Identifying rocks

The new Earthlearningidea today is 'A forgotten rock garden - 1; help a geologist identify a treasured outdoor collection'

This activity involves matching a set of photographs to their descriptions and locating them on an overall scene. This could form a useful revision activity, once students have acquired experience of a range of rocks, minerals and fossils. Answers to the matching exercise are provided.

Other related ELIs can be found in the Earth Materials 'Rocks' category.

How can you tell which grains come from which rock?

'Rock grain cut out; how can you tell which grains come from which rock?'

This cutting out and pasting activity is designed to encourage pupils to think carefully about the characteristics of rock grains and how they fit together, in the sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rock groups.

Related activities can be found in our Earth Materials category.

Climate change and ice core evidence

'How can the ice core evidence for climate change be explained? - an educational opportunity for discussing evidence, hypotheses and possible responses'.

This ELI gives an opportunity to demonstrate how a complex scientific topic can be used in the classroom to show how science depends upon evidence and interpretation.

Related activities can be found in our Environment category

How salty is the Dead Sea?

'Why is the Dead Sea dead? - measuring salinity'. 

This ELI is a classroom activity to measure the density of water of different salinities. Students can describe how dissolving salt in water increases the density of the water.

Related topics can be found in our Environment category.

Rising sea levels

'How will rising sea level affect our coastlines? ... and what can be done to adapt to rising sea levels?'

This ELI involves a discussion of how climate change projections might affect sea level and what the impacts of sea level rise are likely to be, particularly for coastal cities, inhabited deltas and atoll communities. Possible adaptation methods are also considered.

Many activities related to climate change and how we might adapt can be found in our Climate change category

Planning a geological survey

New ELI today -  'Mystery Isle; plan a geological survey of a fascinating island'.

Pupils are asked to use their first day on an island to “get their eyes in” and to plan for further investigations. When completed they can apply the main principles of geology to a new situation, interpret geological evidence from photographs and explain the problems of using initial information to form firm conclusions about the geology.

Many more activities related to mapwork can be found in our 'Investigating the Earth' category.

Sensory treasure hunt

Today we continue with our ELI Early Years activities with 'Sensory treasure hunt; using senses to match objects with similar properties'.

This activity helps children to learn particular properties of a variety of objects. They can choose the objects themselves but try to encourage them to choose those with a variety of properties.

There are other activities suitable for children in our ELI Early Years category. Please let us know how you get on.

 

Sorting out the pebbles on a beach or anywhere you can find some

Have you ever tried putting the different pebbles you can find into families? Here are some ideas: 'Rock Explorers; putting rocks into families'.

In this ELI Early Years activity, as Rock Explorers, children investigate a variety of rocks and sort them into groups. They can sort rocks/fossils into groups using a range of criteria e.g. shape, size, colour, how heavy they feel. They can then create their own forms of classification.

Other ELI Early Years activities can be found in our Cross-Curricular activities.

If you suddenly arrived somewhere, what clues do you need to work out what the climate is like?

Continuing the climate theme of last week, today's ELI is 'Climate on arrival; if you suddenly arrived somewhere – what would tell you what the climate was like?'

This activity involves looking for features that might be indicators of the current climate. It explains the difference between 'climate' and 'weather'.

Related activities about climate and climate change can be found in our Resources and Environment category.

Differences in climate between coastal and landlocked areas

The new ELI today is 'Why coastal regions enjoy a milder climate than landlocked areas; modelling the ocean’s influence on climate by comparing the heat capacity of water and soil.'

This ELI is about building and testing a small-scale model of “ocean” and “land” to visualise the different heat capacity of water and land surface materials, as the main factor influencing oceanic and continental climates.

Related activities can be found in our Resources and Environment category - Environment.

Planning Fieldwork and considering safety

The two ELIs today are dealing with fieldwork, the first is about planning to obtain the best outcomes and the second is about safety.

(1) "The ‘What makes a good educational experience’ approach to planning fieldwork; thinking through the fieldwork strategies that are most likely to inform and inspire".

(2) "The ‘What could hurt you here?’ approach to field safety; teaching how to keep safe during fieldwork and other outdoor activities".

The first activity considers what is it that makes a good educational experience. This then becomes a means of generating a checklist to evaluate pupil fieldwork experiences.

The second activity suggests ways to introduce fieldwork safety in ways that the group is likely to remember.

Many more activities related to fieldwork can be found in 'Fieldwork' in our Investigating the Earth category

Identifying rocks when you're out and about

 If you are out for a walk and see some rocks, do you wonder what they are? Here are some questions to ask yourself, 'Questions for any rock face 4: rock group (sedimentary or igneous): what questions about the type of rock might be asked at any rock exposure?'

This field activity helps people to ask questions to help distinguish between sedimentary and igneous rocks. There are many Earthlearningideas about asking questions when looking at rocks. They can be found in 'Fieldwork' in our Investigating the Earth category.

Flood through the window

Following the devastating effects of the floods in Texas, our ELI today is 'Flood through the window - what would you see, how would you feel? Pupils picture for themselves what a major flood through the window might look like.'

This activity encourages pupils to really think about flooding and what it would be like to be caught in a sudden flash flood. The ELI gives a series of questions to help pupils realise the effects and their possible consequences.

Related activities can be found in our Natural Hazards category.

Relative dating of rocks

Our new ELI today is '‘Photo dating’; using photos to simulate the relative dating of the rock record.'

This activity has been devised to demonstrate the principles behind relative dating using zone fossils by substituting photographs, taken over a period of time within the experience of the students.

Related activities can be found in our Geological Time category.

Geological time

We continue our series investigating geological time with '‘Looking so far into the Abyss of Time’; how to visualise the immensity of geological time...with a rope!'.

This ELI is an exercise to demonstrate the extent of geological time-scales and the need for meaningful geological reference points, obtained from fossils and other geological events, recorded in the rock record.

Go to 'Visualising deep time' in our Geological Time category for other related activities.

How do we know the actual age of rocks?

The ELI today continues our theme of geological (deep) time  with 'But how old is it? Investigating radioactive dating of rocks and minerals'.

This activity investigates how radioactive (radiometric) or absolute dating of rocks and minerals works.

Related activities can be found in our Geological Time category - Visualising deep time.

Helping to understand geological time

Continuing our theme of geological time, the ELI today is 'The origin of the Earth – at arm’s length: the age of the Earth - with a good stretch of imagination.'

This activity teaches the great length of geological time in a fun way. It could be used to reinforce other methods of helping pupils to understand the concept of “deep time”, e.g. during a quick-fire revision session.

Related activities can be found in our Visualising Deep time, Geological Time category.

For the next few weeks, we will be considering geological time. The ELI today is 'The toilet roll of time; make a geological timeline to take home'.

This activity has been devised to address the common lack of knowledge about geological time. Research has shown that many people have no idea of the great length of geological time nor of the order of the key events during the geological history of the Earth.

Related activities can be found in our Geological Time category, Visualising deep time.

Why certain minerals are of such importance to the USA

Our new ELI today is the 9th in our Essential Minerals series - 'Essential Minerals for the Green Revolution – 9 Critical Minerals for the USA'

This Earthlearningidea defines the purpose of a national critical minerals list for the current and future needs of the USA’s industries and technology. This activity could form an extension of the ELI series on metal ores which are essential for the “new” technologies as well as the growth of existing industries.

Related activities can be found in our Minerals category.

Rare earths - vital components in modern technology

We continue our theme of Essential Minerals for the Green Revolution with 'Rare Earth Elements; vital components in modern technology'.

This activity could be used in a lesson on the need to identify and exploit rare earth minerals in vital applications in many different fields, ranging from optics to energy saving devices and medical equipment. They are particularly important as catalysts in industrial processes and in the manufacture of strong magnets.

Other related activities can be found in our Minerals category.

Our ELI today is 'Essential Minerals for the Green Revolution – 6 “The Three Ts”; Tin, Tungsten and Tantalum'.

This ELI involves contrasting good practice in extracting essential minerals with illegal mining. It includes a brief survey of world production of the “Three Ts”.

Related activities can be found in our Minerals and Mining and the Green Revolution            categories.

Fun way to demonstrate sea floor spreading and magnetic stripes

We thought you would enjoy a fun activity as we end our magnetism and plate tectonics series.  'Hands on magnetic stripes; demonstrating how oceanic ridge magnetic stripes form, with several pairs of hands'.

This activity involves a class demonstration of how ocean floor magnetic stripes form, using the hands of pupils. It usually ends with the 'ridge' collapsing and much laughter.

Related activities can be found in our Plate tectonics and Magnetism categories.

Mapping Magnetic Anomalies

Today's new ELI is 'Mapping Magnetic Anomalies; modelling the palaeomagnetic evidence for plate tectonic boundaries on the ocean floor'.

This ELI involves modelling plate boundaries (divergent and transform) from a simulated geomagnetic data survey. Students can describe how the pattern of magnetic stripes was collected from ocean exploration surveys and they can identify evidence of plate boundaries from the pattern of palaeomagnetic anomalies. They can also explain that magnetic anomalies and magnetic stripes are associated with reversals in the Earth’s geomagnetic field.

Related activities can be found in the following topics on our website, Magnetism, Plate tectonics and Oceanography.

Modelling ancient and modern magnetic fields, using people!

Our ELI today is 'Human magnets! - modelling ancient and modern magnetic fields, using your pupils'.

Pupils use their own bodies to model the magnetisation induced in magnetite mineral particles by the Earth’s field of today: also the magnetic evidence within ancient rocks for ‘continental drift’.

Related activities can be found in 'Magnetism' in our Investigating the Earth category.

Hotspots . . what are they?

 Today we consider 'Hotspots; modelling the movement of a plate across the globe'.

In this ELI a felt-tip pen and a piece of card are used to model the evidence of the movement of a tectonic plate over a fixed heat source in the Earth’s mantle.

Many related activities can be found in 'Plate tectonics' in our Earth energy / processes category.

Following the devastating earthquake (7.7 magnitude) which occurred in Myanmar on 28th March, today's ELI is all about seismic waves. 'The slinky seismic waves demo; using slinkies to show how earthquakes produce P-, S- and surface waves'.

In this activity, two slinky springs are used to show how one earthquake produces P-, S- and surface waves.

More activities related to Earthquakes can be found in our Natural Hazards category.

Evidence for Plate tectonics beneath the oceans - using satellites

The new ELI today is 'Laser Quest 2 – above the waves; seeing evidence for plate tectonics beneath the oceans - using satellites.'

This ELI is a simulation to demonstrate the principle behind satellite mapping of the ocean floor based on gravitational anomalies recorded at the ocean surface.

Related activities can be found in our 'Oceanography' category.

How to model the symmetrical magnetic pattern of the rocks of the sea floor

The ELI today is 'Magnetic stripes; modelling the symmetrical magnetic pattern of the rocks of the sea floor.'

This ELI demonstrates the origin of the symmetrical magnetic anomalies which occur at

oceanic spreading centres.

Many more activities can be found in our Plate tectonics section of Earth energy / processes category.

Essential Minerals for the Green Revolution – 8 Critical Minerals

The new ELI today is  "Essential Minerals for the Green Revolution – 8 Critical Minerals; essential mineral – critical mineral: what is the difference?"

This ELI defines the purpose of a national critical minerals list for the future needs of the UK’s technology.

Many ELIs about essential minerals can be found in our Minerals category.

Sink Holes

Sink holes have been in the news in the UK over the last few weeks. Our ELI about this topic is 'Sink hole! Demonstrate sink hole processes in action'.

Sink holes commonly form over limestone bedrock, but also develop where the underlying materials are even more soluble, such as rock salt and gypsum deposits. This classroom activity models the dissolving of underground materials and the impacts this can have at the surface.

Other activities can be found in our natural hazards category.