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.