How could you become fossilised?

This photo is of the 4th century Tollund Man. He was preserved in a peat bog in Denmark. Have you tried the Earth Learning Idea 'How could I become fossilised?'? The activity encourages pupils to think through the fossilisation process.What would happen to your body if you fell into a river or the sea and died? The story is quite gruesome at first. Did you know that 99.9% of dead creatures are eaten and broken up and never become fossilised? It soon becomes apparent that the environment in which something dies is crucial to its fossilisation potential. To be classified as a true fossil, the object must have been preserved for at least 10,000 years. Therefore Tollund Man is not a fossil but he can be used to illustrate the principles of the process.
There are lots of ELI activities about fossils - click here for a list.

Sandstone and limestone landscapes

This is one of two more postcards that have arrived from your pupils' friends who are on exchange visits to other parts of the country. Based on their knowledge of sandstone and limestone landscape features, ask the pupils to work out which postcard is from a sandstone landscape and which is from limestone. They should explain the reasons for their choices. This is the latest Earth Learning Idea 'Geological postcards 2 - sandstone and limestone'.
This is one of many topics in our 'Investigating the Earth' category.
We should be pleased to receive your pupils' answers to the puzzle and will publish the best of them.

Floods in Australia

High-resolution aerial photos taken over Brisbane last week have revealed the scale of devastation across dozens of suburbs and tens of thousands of homes and businesses.
The aerial photos of the Brisbane floods were taken in flyovers on January 13 and January 14.
Hover over each photo to view the devastation caused by flooding.
This is part one of an ABC News special presentation showing before and after photos of the floods.

More picture postcard puzzles

This is a 'global' postcard of chalk scenery. Try our extension idea to last week's Picture postcard puzzle - granite and chalk landscapes. The two new postcards show these landscapes in different places in the world. Next week we shall be looking at sandstone and limestone landscapes. If you have scenery that is characteristic of a particular rock type in your area, please send us some pictures; we can turn them into postcard puzzles for your pupils.
Try our website for many Earth science/geography teaching ideas.

Picture postcard puzzles

Two postcards have arrived from your pupils' friends who are on exchange visits to other parts of the country. Based on their knowledge of granite and chalk landscape features, ask the pupils to work out which postcard is from a granite landscape and which is from chalk. They should explain the reasons for their choices. This is the latest Earth Learning Idea 'Geological postcards - granite and chalk'.
This is one of many topics in our 'Investigating the Earth' category.
We should be pleased to receive your pupils' answers to the puzzle and will publish the best of them.

Rocks to eat?

Have you tried this Earthlearningidea - 'Rocks to eat; how we get the elements we need to stay healthy'? We are alive and like other living things, we need many chemical elements in order to be healthy. These elements come from minerals in the soil. How might these elements reach us and other living things? The activity begins with a discussion about food. The pupils know that they have to eat to stay alive.
- Explain that food gives both the energy and the elements they need to stay healthy,
- if they eat meat, then the elements come fromanimals, which in turn, eat plants
- plants get the elements from minerals in the soil,
- soil gets the minerals from the rocks beneath,
- so the elements in minerals in rocks go into the soil, are taken up by plants, are eaten by animals and are then eaten by us in either the plants or the meat we eat.
This is one of many activities in our Resources and Environment category.

Electrical resistance

Try our latest Earth Learning Idea - ´Electrical ground probing´. In this activity pupils learn how to measure the electrical resistance of the ground to find buried objects. They are probably aware of the principle of using geophysical methods to locate objects and structures buried below ground; the methods are often called ´geophys´ on television programmes. This is a clever laboratory domonstration of one remote sensing method.
This is one of many activities in the ´Investigating the Earth´ category.