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.

What are tectonic plates?

Today we are investigating tectonic plates. What are they?  "Chocolate Plates; simulating the properties of a lithospheric plate".

This ELI gives a simulation of the mechanical properties of a lithospheric plate using chocolate bars. It is always a very popular activity with students!

Many related plate tectonic activities can be found in our Plate tectonics category.

Fieldwork demonstrations to help understanding

We are continuing with our fieldwork theme. Have you tried using "Fieldwork: interactive re-creation; activities using simple transportable apparatus to simulate features in the field"?

This ELI gives a series of interactive demonstrations in the field to simulate geological features which the students can see in front of them. It aids understanding of the processes involved.

Many activities associated with fieldwork can be found in our Fieldwork category. 

Planning a field trip to investigate an ancient river system

Our new ELI today involves planning some careful fieldwork using, as an example, the Burbage Valley in the Peak District, UK - 'Burbage Valley Part 1 - An ancient river system; using field measurements to determine the origins of a sandstone sequence'.

This ELI is an exercise in planning for a field visit, deciding what measurements to take and raising awareness of possible errors.

Related activities can be found in 'Fieldwork' and in 'Sedimentary structures'.

Make your own dip and strike model - a DIY clinometer

Thinking about doing fieldwork? 'The do-it-yourself dip and strike model (with DIY clinometer); using a model to measure and understand dip, dip direction, strike and apparent dip'.

This ELI involves making and using a model that explains dip, strike and apparent dip, and gives exercises on these measurements.

Many activities related to fieldwork can be found in out Fieldwork category in 'Investigating the Earth'.