Magnetic Earth

 Have you tried 'Magnetic Earth; modelling the magnetic field of the Earth'.

This ELI involves finding out the location and magnetic field lines of a bar magnet hidden inside a sphere of PlasticineTM, as an analogy for the magnetic field of the Earth (but you don't mention the bar magnet when you use it!)

Teaching videos are also available.

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

Use the remote sensing power of physics to find what is beneath the ground

Our new ELI for November is 'Probing the ground – by physics; using the remote sensing power of physics, to find what is beneath the ground'.

This ELI is an investigation into the physical remote sensing methods that could be used to probe the ground. These methods are used by structural engineers, mining engineers, geologists (geophysicists, geochemists), archaeologists, surveyors, forensic pathologists.

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

How will landscapes be affected by storms?

Our ELI today is certainly relevant to large parts of the UK and to many areas of the world - 'How can storms affect erosion rates? - predict what will happen to a landscape if it is affected by a storm.'

In this activity, pupils are asked to study images of various landscapes and to predict how the rate of erosion might be affected by storms.

Related activities can be found in our Sedimentary processes category in Earth energy / processes.

Picturing Landforms

We're continuing our landforms theme with 'Picturing Landforms 1 - Visualise and draw landforms from a verbal description'.

This activity enhances pupils’ skills of description and interpretation using photographs of landforms.

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

Identifying and interpreting landforms in the field or from photographs and maps

The new ELI for October is field based - 'Burbage Valley Part 2 - Landforms; identifying and interpreting landforms'.

In this activity, students use a set of photographs to identify a variety of landforms and attempt to explain their origin.

Related activities can be found in Fieldwork and in Geomorphology, both in our Investigating the Earth category.

Collapse of natural dams in mountains

This topic has been on the news quite a lot recently with many people, for example in Nepal, suffering the consequences. This ELI is appropriate 'Dam burst danger; modelling the collapse of a natural dam in the mountains – and the disaster that might follow'.

This activity involves finding out what happens when ice blocks that have been trapped in a model moraine melt to release a ‘lake’ of water.

Related ELIs can be found in 'Floods' in our Natural Hazards category.

The jigsaw puzzle of the continents

We are continuing our plate tectonics theme with "The continental jigsaw puzzle; can you reassemble a super-continent from a ‘jigsaw puzzle’?"

This ELI uses a series of prepared maps of the modern day continents to reconstruct the supercontinents of the past.

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