Surface processes affecting the landscape, now, in the past and in the future

This ELI is useful for teachers planning their lessons. It is also fun to do while out and about.  'View to the future – and the past; using a viewpoint or overview educationally'.

This ELI provides a strategy for helping pupils to interact with the outdoor environment they are viewing. They will examine the landscape for surface processes that attack the land and then they will try to visualise the effects of these processes in the past and the future.

Many related activities can be found in our Fieldwork - Investigating the Earth category.

Make your own bricks . . . with mud

A good children's activity for outside in hot weather is 'Mud, Mud, glorious mud; make your own bricks'.

This activity involves carefully measuring ingredients to make a pliable mud. The mud is then baked in the sun or in an oven to make bricks. The bricks can then be painted and/or used to make structures.

Other ideas for young children can be found in our ELI Early years category.

An Earthlearningidea about wildfires?

Most of you will have heard about the devastating wildfires occurring at the moment (July 2026) in Spain. On this blog, we try to publish relevant up-to-date activities but sadly, we do not have an ELI about wildfires. Is there anyone out there who would like to write one for us?

The closest we have is 'Which natural hazards could damage the area where you live? - How safe is your home area?'

Students are invited to look around their local regions to suggest what natural hazards might affect them in the future - and, of course, they can include wildfires.

Related activities can be found in our Natural Hazards category

Our plastic waste ends up in huge rubbish islands in the Pacific ocean

The new ELI today is 'The "Great Pacific Garbage Patch"; how ocean currents trap our plastic waste'.

This activity simulates how the ocean circulation of the North Pacific Gyre collects floating plastic pollutants, to form vast floating zones of rubbish.

Related activities can be found in our Oceanography and in our Environment categories.

Investigating ocean currents

Our ELI today is 'Lost at sea – the amazing journeys of rubber ducks around the world; studying ocean currents following the Friendly Floatees ocean spill'.

This ELI uses a real case to study ocean surface currents. After doing it, pupils can predict the routes of ocean surface currents; test their hypotheses and explain about the Coriolis effect. They can also explain about the connection of all oceans through ocean currents.

Related activities can be found in our Oceanography section in the Investigating the Earth category.

How the pH of water may change as it moves underground

Still on our chemistry theme, today's ELI is 'The watery world of underground chemistry; using pH to link the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere and lithosphere together'.

This Earthlearningidea involves a discussion, with demonstrations, of the likely change in pH of water as it goes through the underground part of the water cycle.

Related activities can be found in he Water Cycle in our Earth as a System category.

Teaching the Periodic Table

Continuing with chemistry, our ELI today is 'An Element of fun; an entertaining way to teach Mendeleev's Periodic Table of elements'.

This activity can fix in the mind of young students an image of the Periodic Table and help them to learn some characteristics of the chemical elements.

Related activities can be found in Minerals and Elements in our Earth Materials category.