The new ELI today is another is our 'picturing' series - 'Picturing tectonic structures – 2 folding: visualise and draw fold structures from a verbal description'.
These 'picturing' activities enhance pupils’ skills of description and interpretation using photographs of folded rocks at various scales.
Related activities can be found in our 'Deformation - folding and faulting' category.
Now there is a teaching video to accompany the activity we published many years ago, 'When will it blow? – predicting eruptions; how a simple tiltmeter can demonstrate the bulging of a volcano before eruption'.
Click here to find many other volcanic teaching ideas.
The new ELI today is the last in our 'net zero' emissions series - 'Landslide danger - and climate change; case studies of how landslides work and the likely effects of climate change'.
This activity is an introduction into landsliding processes and the likely impacts of climate change, using two case studies.
The rest of this series of Earthlearningideas can be found be here. Other activities about Landslides can be found in our Natural Hazards category.
The ELI Team is launching a series of new videos to accompany some of our very early Earthlearningideas. This one accompanies the very first ELI ever to be published at the end of 2007!
The activity could form part of a lesson about earthquakes and their effects. It could also form part of the preparation for the best way people should respond to an earthquake in earthquake-prone areas.
Many related activities can be found in our Natural Hazards category.
Today's ELI is all about the controversial topic of nuclear power, 'Nuclear power - harnessing the energy of the atom; investigating the use of nuclear power now and in the future'.
The various types of nuclear power stations are discussed and the future of nuclear power is considered. This is followed by a discussion about siting SMRs (Small Modular Reactors) in the local area.
More activities related to reaching net zero carbon emissions can be found here.
We continue our theme of geological time with 'The toilet roll of time; make a geological timeline to take home'.
This activity has been devised to address the common lack of knowledge about geological time. Research has shown that many people have no idea of the great length of geological time nor of the order of the key events during the geological history of the Earth.
More activities can be found in the ELI Geological time category.
The new ELI today is all about visualising deep time 'The origin of the Earth – at arm’s length; the age of the Earth – with a good stretch of imagination'.
Visualising deep time is extremely difficult. This activity provides a 'fun' way of teaching the great length of geological time. It could be used to reinforce other methods of helping pupils to understand the concept of 'deep time', e.g. during a quick-fire revision session.
Related activities about the age of the Earth can be found in the Geological time category.
Following last week's ELI about enhanced weathering to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, we have been sent an extension idea from Australia.
Have you tried our Earthlearningidea, 'Weathering- rocks breaking up and breaking down; matching pictures and descriptions of weathered rocks with the processes of weathering that formed them'?
This activity encourages pupils to study the appearance of weathered rocks and to understand the processes which produce weathering.
Other activities related to sedimentary processes my be found in our Sedimentary processes category.
Our new ELI today is another in our 'net zero' emissions series: 'Speeding up nature to trap carbon dioxide; the potential role of enhanced weathering and carbonation in mitigating climate change'.
This activity explains two case studies in the sequestration of carbon by promoting enhanced weathering processes. It asks pupils to suggest the stages in quarrying and processing the basalt where carbon emissions might be involved. How does the “carbon footprint” of the proposals for Sao Paulo State compare with that in the Newcastle study?
You can find many other activities related to how we can reach our 'net zero' emissions target.
Workshops were held recently in Romania, the UK and Portugal.
Visit the ELI Photo Gallery to see images of workshops from 2007.
The new ELI today is another in our series about ways to reach the 'net zero' emissions target - 'Electric vehicles - the way to go? Investigating the advantages and disadvantage of EVs'.
Other topics in this series can be found here.
Following the last post about fault structures, have you tried 'Banana benders; using a banana to simulate geological structures'?
There is an accompanying video clip.
This simulation could be used in any lesson where deformation of rocks is being discussed, whether small-scale, in a hand specimen or rock exposure, or large-scale as in mountain building.
Other related ELIs can be found in our 'Deformation - folding and faulting' category.
The new ELI today is another in our series of picturing geological features, 'Picturing tectonic structures - 1 faulting: visualise and draw fault structures from a verbal description'.
This activity enhances pupils’ skills of description and interpretation using photographs of faulted rocks at various scales.
Many more Earthlearningideas relating to structural geology can be found in our 'Deformation - folding and faulting' category.
Have you tried the ELI series on identifying minerals? This is the first of five, using observational skills 'Be a mineral expert - 1: Beginning to identify minerals - introducing colour, habit, lustre, cleavage'.
This activity uses simple visual tests to identify a set of ‘unknown’ minerals.
All Earthlearninigdeas involving minerals, can be found in our Earth Materials category.
Continuing our 'net zero' emissions Earthlearningideas is 'How do I choose the best insulation? Investigating enhanced insulation for buildings'
An investigation into the properties of various insulation materials for buildings with a discussion of their advantages and disadvantages.
The full series of Earthlearningidea 'net zero' emissions activities can be found in our Resources and Environment category.
Continuing our watery theme . . . '"Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink"; investigating how to get clean water from dirty ‘pond water'.
This activity could be used in any lessons involving water supply. People have always needed to find clean water to drink. It is a vital factor in where people can live.
Many other 'watery' Earthlearningideas can be found in our 'Earth as a system' category.
The new ELI today is another in our 'net zero' emissions series - 'Matching supply and demand using stored water; pumped storage hydroelectric schemes – just-in-time power'.
This activity explores how pumped storage hydroelectric schemes may make an important future contribution to government ‘net-zero’ targets by storing power to boost sources with variable output, such as wind or solar.
Our complete series on reaching 'net zero' emissions targets may be found here. All were as accurate as possible when they were written in spring 2021.
The ELI Team is pleased to announce the launch of the new video workshop for children aged 5 to 7 years.
Our new ELI today is 'Picturing metamorphic rocks; visualise and draw metamorphic rocks from a verbal description'.
This activity enhances pupils’ skills of description and interpretation using photographs of metamorphic rocks and various scales. It is an excellent revision exercise.
Many more related activities can be found in Earth materials 'Rocks' and in 'Metamorphic processes'.
The Earthlearningidea Team is very pleased to announce the launch of 'Mining and the Green Revolution' videos and explanatory powerpoint created by Ben Lepley, SRK Consulting (UK) Ltd. Each video has worksheets available.
Related activities can be found in our 'net zero' emissions target series.
The ELI Team is very pleased to announce the launch of its new video workshop. It was written to meet the English needs of KS3 Geographers but, of course, its activities are available for everyone.
Earth's surface activity - quick to very, very slow
There are twelve videos ranging from weathering, river and ice erosion, transportation and deposition, identifying rocks, evolution of life through time, quick to very slow processes and ending with brickquake and party poppers.
The powerpoint guides you through the various stages and everything, including the resources list, can be found in the workshop booklet - - in other words, everything you need to inspire the next generation of geographers!
The new ELI today is 'Picturing igneous rocks – 2; visualise and draw igneous rocks from a verbal description'.
Other activities about igneous rocks can be found in the Alaphabetical index.
Have you tried our cross-curricular ELIs? For example, 'Geo-music - music inspired by all things ‘geo’: create your own geo-music'.
Much of our great music was and is inspired by the natural world. This activity encourages pupils to listen to such music and to compose their own.
This activity creates a cross-curricular link between the sciences and arts and is one of six in the series - - to be found in our Cross-curricular ELIs.
The latest in our net zero emissions target series is 'Liquid biofuels - keeping our wheels turning into the future: investigating fuels produced from biomass'.
The activity describes the use of biomass to produce biofuels. It investigates both first and second generation biofuels. The latter are currently undergoing extensive research and it is hoped that in the future they will replace petrol (gasoline) entirely.
Other activities in this series can be found in our environment category.
This activity can be included in lessons on the rock cycle to model the cooling and crystallisation of magma to form igneous rocks.
Other related activities can be found in Igneous processes.
Today our new Earthlearningidea is a very good revision exercise of igneous rocks, 'Picturing igneous rocks – 1; visualise and draw igneous rocks from a verbal description'.
This game enhances pupils’ skills of description and interpretation using photographs of igneous rocks and scenery. It is also great fun and can result in some very strange drawings!
Other related activities can be found in the category, Earth materials - Rocks'.
The ELI today is one of our ELI Early years series, 'Fossilise! A game showing how fossils form and survive.'
The game can be played in any science or geography lesson and has cross curricular links with literacy and numeracy.
Other Earthlearningideas in this series can be found in the ELI Early years resources.
The new ELI today is the latest in our 'net zero' emissions target series - '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.
All the 'net zero' emissions target Earthlearningideas can be viewed here.
Following the ELI 'A world in a grain of sand', the activity today is 'Sand on a sill; what will happen to a sand grain left on a window sill? – a rock cycle discussion'.
This ELI involves a pupil group discussion based on what will happen to a sand grain left on a window sill. This activity has been devised to encourage pupils to think about rock cycle processes in the context of the area outside their own school.
Related activities about the rock cycle can be found here.
The new Earthlearningidea today is "A world in a grain of sand"; what can a grain of sand tell us about its past?
Other related activities can be found in 'ELI Early years' or in 'Earth energy - sedimentary processes'.
Many activities related to power sources can be found here.
Continuing our 'net zero' emissions series, the new ELI today is 'Nuclear batteries - the future? Investigating advances in battery technology'.
This activity explores the future of battery technology and asks pupils to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using nuclear batteries.
The full series of Earthlearningideas about how we can reach 'net zero' emissions targets can be found here.
Following on from global agriculture last week, today's ELI is one of our soil series - 'Soil layers puzzle; make your own soil profile and investigate others'
This activity can be used in any lesson about the environment, rocks and landscape, agriculture, gardening or investigations out of doors.
Many more Earthlearningideas about Soils can be found here.
Continuing our 'net zero' emissions series, the new ELI today is 'The future for global agriculture; the adaptation of agriculture to climate change'.
Following on from our new ELI about Walther's Law last week, today's ELI is about interpreting environments from a sequence of rocks and comparing the results with modern environments - 'Environmental detective: imagining how the evidence of modern environments could become preserved'.
This activity is an imaginative exercise in thinking about where different environments might occur on a tropical desert coast and how the evidence might become preserved in a sequence of rocks.
You can find other Earthlearningideas related to this is our topics and teaching resources.
Today's new ELI+ is 'Walther’s law of sedimentation – teaching it the LegoTM way How does a relative rise in sea level affect a vertical sequence of sediments?'
Related activities can be found in 'Stratigraphy and sequences' on our website.
The ELI Team is pleased to announce the publication of our new Earth Science workshop and videos for ages 9 to 11, 'Active Earth, living fossil'.
The new ELI today continues our 'net zero' emissions series - - 'Storing gas underground: What can we store? How can we do it? How will it help? A discussion on gas power sources that can be stored and the storage conditions needed'.
This activity investigates three situations in which compressed air, hydrogen and natural gas can be stored underground.
Many more activities related to both mitigation and adaptation measures to climate change can be found on the website.
A tribute to Chris King was read by his friend and colleague, Peter Kennett, at a Thanksgiving Service in St. Thomas' Church, Wells on Saturday 26th March
Today's new ELI continues our series of 'net zero' emissions activities - 'Harnessing the power of waves; investigating the development of wave power.'
Wave power can be produced by the up and down motion of floating devices placed on the surface of the ocean. This activity is an investigation into the use of wave power to generate electricity; much research is taking place about this at the moment.
The complete series of ELI 'net zero' emissions can be viewed here.
Teaching the water cycle? This morning we have another game for you to try but this time for young children - 'Watery world game; climb through the watery world but watch out for snakes!'
The game can be played in any science or geography lesson and has cross curricular links with literacy and numeracy. It is also a useful water cycle introduction or revision exercise.
Other related activities can be found here.
The new ELI today is 'The fishing game : beware of overfishing; a game showing how fish stocks should be managed sustainably'.
A game to be played in pairs or groups to find the group who can manage their fish stocks sustainably. ‘There are plenty more fish in the sea’ is a commonly-used phrase, but is it still true today? Many studies have shown that, when there is over-fishing, the stocks of fish can ‘crash’, which is not only a problem for the fish, but also for the men and women who fish for them. However, when fishing is managed sustainably it can continue in the long term.
Many more activities relating to our environment can be found here.
Following up on last week's activity, today we have 'Rock power: geothermal power simulations; modelling geothermal power sources – renewable or not?'
With great sadness we inform you that Chris King died on 17th February. He was the originator and inspiration for Earthlearningidea. He will be greatly missed, especially by the Geoscience community across the world.
We shall continue publishing new activities, keeping Earthlearningidea active in his memory:
The new ELI today is 'Deep geothermal power from ‘hot dry rocks’: an option in your area? A discussion of potential for extracting ‘hot dry rocks’ geothermal energy locally'.
This activity considers the ‘hot dry rocks’ geothermal potential in the UK through an experimental commercial project in Cornwall.
Many activities about power supplies can be found in our Topics and Teaching Resources on the website.
Join us on Saturday February 19th for AMAZING PLANET to be presented at the virtual ASE Conference. Two members of the European Geosciences Union (EGU), will present a quick-fire selection of activities from Earthlearningideas. These are designed to enable teachers to encourage a sense of wonder at Planet Earth among their pupils.
The session will introduce ten processes which take place inside the Earth. These will include 'Quake shake', showing in a few seconds how parts of Mexico City might topple over as the old lake bed upon which it is built liquefies under seismic shaking.
'Magnetic Earth' will demonstrate the Earth’s magnetic field with a Plasticine sphere and a Magnaprobe.
Aspects
of seven surface processes will be demonstrated, including 'Rock rattle
and roll', an enjoyable, noisy activity reproducing erosion by shaking
rock fragments in a plastic bottle.
Various ways of representing Earth processes using your fingertips will also prove to be a fun way of learning principles such as the Rock Cycle.
The session is intended as a rapid introduction to the activities, of which there are now 384 freely available on the website. Each activity consists of one or two illustrated pages describing how to carry it out, with another page or two of the rationale for teachers.
The new ELI today continues our series of activities about how to reach 'net zero' emissions targets. 'Nuclear waste disposal; investigating geological disposal facilities (GDFs)'.
This activity explores geological disposal facilities (GDFs) as a solution to the problem of what to do with high-level radioactive nuclear waste?
Many other activities in the series can be found here.
'The Himalayas in 30 seconds! Making a miniature fold mountain range in an empty box'.
This activity models how lateral pressure can squeeze rocks into folds and faults, and imitates the way in which fold mountain ranges are formed. You can watch a video of this Earthlearningidea.
Many more activities about fold mountains and deformation of rocks can be found in our Resources.
The new Earthlearningidea today is 'Limestone springs – the wells of Wells; modelling the underground flow of water through limestone passages to springs'.
Many more watery Earthlearningideas can be found here.