View to the future - and the past

New ELI today is - 'View to the future – and the past; using a viewpoint or overview educationally'.

A good view is often enough in itself to inspire pupils. However, by asking them to undertake this activity, they need to examine the landscape for surface processes that attack the land and then to visualise their effects in the past and the future.
More Earthlearningideas about the landscapes and environments around us can be found on our website.

What can boreholes tell us about the Earth?

'Boring chocolate! What can boreholes tell us about the Earth?'

This activity can be used in any science or geography lesson about finding what is beneath the Earth’s surface, including the search for natural resources and understanding past environments.
Many more hands-on (good-to-eat) activities can be found on our website.

Visualising plunging folds - with your hands and a piece of paper

The new ELI today is another in our 'hands' series - 'Visualising plunging folds - with your hands and a piece of paper' In this activity you use your hands and folded/torn paper to show the patterns made by plunging folds.

This is a class activity using hands and torn or cut papers to visualise the patterns formed by plunging folds. It helps pupils to see how plunging folds produce fold patterns on near-horizontal surfaces or on maps.
Many more activities about folds and fold mountains can be found on our website by using the alphabetical index or the search engine.

Geological structures using sponge rolls

Have you tried this ELI? It's good fun and you can eat it - and it's educational! 'Swiss roll surgery; investigating geological structures and their outcrops using sponge rolls'

This activity can be used in any science or geography lesson when folded and faulted rocks are discussed. By adapting the terminology, it can be used with any age group when explanations of folded and faulted rocks are required.
More activities related to geological structures can be found on our website by either using the search engine or the alphabetical index.

Dating the Earth - Charles Lyell and Mount Etna

The new Earthlearningidea today is 'Dating the Earth – before the discovery of radioactivity; Charles Lyell and Mount Etna, 1828'

This activity uses simplified calculations to demonstrate the immense age of the Earth, before the discovery of radioactivity.
After working through this activity, pupils can make simple calculations from given data and show how an estimate of the age of a relatively recent part of the geological record may be obtained. They can also put themselves in the position of Charles Lyell struggling to find the age of the Earth, from geological evidence alone, without any knowledge of radioactive dating methods.
Other activities related to the age of the Earth can be found in our Geological Time category.

Make your own sedimentary rocks with 'fossils'

A very good Early years activity is 'Rock builder; simulating the formation of fossiliferous sedimentary rocks'.

This activity simulates the formation of fossiliferous sedimentary rocks using a variety of sediments and shells in a plastic bottle, with filler acting as cement to ‘glue’ the grains together.
Other ideas for activities for young children can be found on our website.

Right way up or upside down? Modelling folded rocks with your hands

Today we have published another activity in the 'modelling by hands' series - 'Right way up or upside down? - modelling anti- and synforms by hand. Use your hands to show how the beds in folds can be the right way up or inverted'

A hand-modelling activity to show how different types of synforms and antiforms can be produced.
Lots more activities about fold mountains and folded rocks can be found on our website in the index (scroll down from this link).