The new ELI today continues the 'Essential minerals' series with 'Essential Minerals for the Green Revolution – 7 Gold: an essential mineral – or is it?'
This activity raises awareness of the main world uses of gold and the frequent abuses of human rights in some of the main gold producing countries.
Other ELIs in the series can be found in our 'Minerals' section of the Earth Materials category.
We continue our fossils theme with 'Who ate the ammonite? - a Jurassic food web - from fossil evidence'.
Many more ELIs about fossils and dinosaurs can be found in the Evolution of Life category.
Today the new ELI is another in the 'picturing' series - - - 'Picturing Fossils 2: visualise and draw fossils from a verbal description'.
This activity enhances pupils’ skills of description and interpretation using photographs of fossils. This could form a useful revision activity and is fun to do either with photos or real specimens (which must be kept hidden).
Related activities can be found in our Evolution of life category.
Exciting competitions:
The Earthlearningidea 'Net zero' series or the series on 'Essential minerals for the Green Revolution' may give you some ideas.
Also, don't forget The Geological Society's Schools' Challenge
The new ELI today is the second in our series for students who cannot see - - 'Teaching geology to students with visual impairment (VI) - 2: modifying visual resources for students who cannot see.'
This activity is about making geology accessible to all. Visual resources are a key part of learning geology. The frequency of their use and the variety of types employed in teaching and assessment of geology presents a significant challenge for both teacher and learner.
A similar activity can be found in our cross-category topics.
Continuing our preservation theme . . . 'How could I become fossilised?
Thinking through fossilisation in the context of me or you'.
In this activity, pupils think through the decay processes that the human body is likely to be involved in as it moves towards fossilisation - as a means of gaining
understanding of fossilisation processes and what fossils are.
In our 'Fossils' section of the Evolution of Life category, there are many other activities.
The new ELI today is 'From hard-boiled eggs to bog bodies; an investigation into the effects of tannin and mild acid'.
Exceptional preservation of animals and plants takes place when they have fallen into peat bogs within the last 10,000 years. This activity allows pupils to investigate the effects of tannin and a mild acid in this process.
Other related activities can be found in our Evolution of Life category.
This is a game to help pupils to understand, and remember, the different rock types ‘Rockery 1 - rock game; model different characteristics of rocks - with your pupils'.
The activity helps pupils to remember the fundamental differences between rock types. It is also a lot of fun!
Many related activities about rocks can be found here.
The new ELI today continues our series - 'Essential Minerals for the Green Revolution – 6 “The Three Ts”; Tin, Tungsten and Tantalum'.
Go to our Earth Materials Minerals category to find many related activities.
Other ELIs involving some maths can be found in our Cross-Category topics.
Today, we continue with our series on 'Essential minerals for the Green Revolution with number 5, Cobalt; mined by children'.
This ELI raises awareness of the main trade in cobalt and the use of child labour in cobalt mines in the main producing country. Worldwide demand for cobalt and related metals is rising rapidly as new technologies are embraced.
Related activities can be found in 'Minerals' in our Earth Materials category.
Following our astronomical umbrella, we now have 'Craters on the Moon: why are the Moon’s craters such different shapes and sizes'.
Related activities can be found in our Earth in Space category.
The simulation of the Earth’s rotation with a globe and the astronomical umbrella allows the students to see the same phenomenon from different points of view and facilitates the description of the apparent motion of the night sky.
This is our first ELI in the 'Astronomy' category of 'Earth in Space'. It was sent to us by a friend and colleague and supporter of Earthlearningideas. We hope it may be the first of a series? Remember to send us your innovative teaching ideas for whatever age group.
This ELI is a scissors and paper activity modelling the relative positions and movements of the continents as the ocean floor spreads either side of an oceanic ridge.
Many related Earthlearningideas can be found in our Plate tectonics category.
New ELI - 'Scary scorpions; make your own scorpion and imagine how it lived'.
This ELI gives an introduction to fossil aquatic scorpions; bringing the animal back to life and investigating the Silurian seas. You can also have fun making your own scary scorpion.
Related activities can be found in 'Evolution of Life' or, for a younger age group, in 'ELI Early years'.
Continuing our fossils theme - - 'Curious creatures; using fossil and modern evidence to work out the lifestyles of extinct animals'.
Life on Earth diversified around 500 million years ago when shells and skeletons appeared for the first time in the fossil record. All animal life today probably evolved from some of these creatures while others became extinct.
Many related activities can be found in our 'Evolution of Life' category.
The new ELI today is another in our 'picturing' series - 'Picturing Fossils -1: visualise and draw fossils from a verbal description'.
'A world in a grain of sand’ - what can a grain of sand tell us about its past?
This ELI is a ‘thought experiment’ on erosion, transportation and deposition.
For younger ages, it could be used to write a story or draw a cartoon about the life of
Sandy Grain. Start with a grain of sand on a beach, and describe where it has come from and what will happen to it.
Related activities can be found in 'Sedimentary processes' and 'ELI Early years'.
We are continuing our latest series with 'Essential Minerals for the Green Revolution – 4 Graphite: from a pencil to the electric car!'
Other related activities in our 'Essential minerals' series can be found in the ELI Minerals category.
Today's ELI is 'A core activity; piecing together evidence for the composition of the Earth’s core'.
This Earthlearningidea asks pupils to examine and discuss the evidence for the composition of the Earth’s core.
Related ideas can be found in our Earth Materials category in 'Structure of the Earth'.
The new ELI today is 'Shadowlands; simulating the effect of the Earth’s core on earthquake waves'.
This is a simulation exercise to demonstrate that the shadow zones created by earthquake waves are affected by the size and physical properties of the Earth’s liquid outer core.
Other related activities can be found in two categories: 'Structure of the Earth' and 'Earthquakes'.
Today, we continue our edible theme with 'Boring chocolate! What can boreholes tell us about the Earth?'.
This activity can be used in any science or geography lesson about finding what is beneath the Earth’s surface, including the search for natural resources and understanding past environments.
You can find related activities in our Earth Materials, Earth's structure category.
The new ELI today is 'Folds and faults with puff pastry and chocolate; understanding folds and faults in cross section and on a geological map'.
This activity models the formation of folds and then of faults using the Catalonian pre-Pyrenees as an example in the real world.
It's in the ELI category of Deformation - folding and faulting where you can find a wide selection of related activities.
In this Earthlearningidea, several photographs are used to stimulate discussion about possible rapid geological processes in the past which might have had “catastrophic” outcomes if there had been humans on the Earth at those times.
Explore the category 'Natural Hazards' for many other activities about catastrophic processes.
Today we are continuing our series with 'Essential Minerals for the Green Revolution – 3 Rare Earth Elements; vital components in modern technology'.
This Earthlearningidea could be used in a lesson on the need to identify and exploit rare earth minerals in vital applications in many different fields, ranging from optics to energy saving devices and medical equipment. Rare earth elements are particularly important as catalysts in industrial processes and in the manufacture of strong magnets.
Other ELIs in this series 'Essential minerals for the Green Revolution' can be seen in the Minerals category on the website.
Continuing our minerals theme . . . "Interactive hydrothermal mineralisation:‘The rock with the hole’ hydrothermal mineralisation demo".
This ELI is a demonstration of how hydrothermal fluids flow through rocks. It is presented in a way to interact with pupils.
Click here to find more Earthlearningideas related to igneous processes.
Today, we are continuing our theme of 'Essential Minerals for the Green Revolution with Copper: an element for which the demand is increasing rapidly'.
This ELI involves an investigation into the need to increase mining for copper as demand rises abruptly and ores of lean (low) grade have to be used.
Click here for other Earthlearningideas about minerals.
An ELI Early years activity: 'Found in the ground: sorted! An introduction to classification using things ‘found in the ground’
Teaching video to accompany the activity
This activity may be used in any lesson where the principles of classification are required. It forms a useful basis for further activities in Earth science.
In the ELI Early years category, there are many other ideas.
The new ELI today is 'Teaching geology to students with visual impairment (VI): modifying block models to teach map-work to students who cannot see'.
This activity describes how geology can be made accessible to all students. It will be followed by other ideas of how to teach students with visual impairment
New teaching videos to accompany two popular Earthlearningideas:
'Geological postcards 1 – granite and chalk'' and
'Geological postcards 2 – sandstone and limestone
Picture postcard puzzles'
Many, many activities about rocks can be found in our Earth Materials category - just search for 'Rocks' in 'Topics'.
New ELI today is 'Make your own aquifer – 2 The London Basin; model the aquifers in the London Basin with sponges'.
This activity uses sponges to demonstrate water in pore spaces in sedimentary rocks. It may be used in science and geography lessons when studying the water cycle or water management.
Click here to find other watery Earthlearningideas.
Keeping our watery theme, have you tried - - 'Well, well, well! Making a working model of a well'?
Click here for other watery Earthlearningideas.
New ELI today 'Make your own aquifer – 1 with sponges; a clean way to demonstrate water in pores in rocks'.
This Earthlearningidea uses sponges to demonstrate water in pore spaces in sedimentary rocks. It may be used in science and geography lessons when studying the water cycle or water management.
In the category Earth as a system, Water cycle, there are many related activities.
One of the activities in our ELI Early years series is fun to do outside in the playground, 'Sensory treasure hunt; using senses to match objects with similar properties'.
Watch the Video
This activity has endless potential and can be used in many ways. It is best carried out outside where there is plenty of space but can equally well be enjoyed in the classroom. Pupils can work at their own pace with the faster and more able investigating uses and other properties such as the object’s ability or not to change shape. The words fulfil many literacy requirements and pupils can try to apply them to other objects.
Our ELI Early years category has many ideas for young children.
The new ELI today is the start of a series of Earthlearningideas about the essential minerals needed for the Green Revolution. We begin with Lithium. 'Essential Minerals for the Green Revolution – 1 Lithium; an element which is pulling more than its weight in the world'.
This activity is an investigation into the sources of lithium as worldwide demand rises, with the introduction of new technology, such as lithium-ion batteries.
Our Minerals category has many more activities about minerals and over the next few months more ELIs about essential minerals will be published.
Continuing our geohazards theme - 'Sink hole! Demonstrate sink hole processes in action'
Sink holes commonly form over limestone bedrock, but also develop where the underlying materials are even more soluble, such as rock salt and gypsum deposits. This classroom activity models the dissolving of underground materials and the impacts this can have at the surface.
Our Natural Hazards category lists many more Earthlearningideas.
The new ELI today is 'Slip-sliding away; how does monitoring fault creep help to forecast earthquakes?'
This earthlearningidea is a simulation and case study of a monitoring survey used to monitor the slow creep along fault planes that leads to the build-up of strain prior to its release in an earthquake.
Go to our Natural hazards category to find other activities about earthquakes.
Video: - ' Jigging; using density to separate different materials'.
More Earthlearningideas about Minerals can be found here.
The new ELI today is 'Building silicates; simulating crystal size during the cooling of magma and during recrystallisation in solid rock'.
This Earthlearningidea is a consolidation exercise to show how cooling/recrystallisation rates might explain crystal size in igneous and metamorphic rocks.
Related activities can be found in the categories 'Igneous processes' and 'Metamorphic processes'.
'Gold prospectors; panning for ‘gold’ in river sediment'.
This ELI investigates how prospectors use the property of density to search for gold in river sediments.The technique is still actively used across the world where minerals are exploited, on a wide range of scales.
The activity is aimed at ages 5 and upwards but if you are searching for science ideas for younger children, you could explore 'ELI Early years'.
The new ELI today is the second in our Picturing minerals activity, 'Picturing Minerals -2; visualise and draw minerals from a verbal description'.
This could form a useful revision activity, once pupils have studied minerals. Pupils are required to describe what they see accurately so their partner can draw and, hopefully, identify the mineral. It is not always very easy!
Click here for many more ELIs about Minerals.
Lots more ELIs related to plate tectonics can be found here.
The new ELI today is another in our popular 'picturing' series: 'Picturing Minerals-1; visualise and draw minerals from a verbal description'.
This activity enhances pupils’ skills of description and interpretation using photographs of minerals. It could form a useful revision activity - and it is fun!
More ELIs about Minerals can be found in the Earth Materials category.
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. Rocks are natural time capsules. By using the ‘time capsule’ approach you can bring a rock to life in ways that will amaze pupils and adults alike.
The ELI category 'Visualising deep time' has related activities and activities about rocks generally can be found here.
The new ELI today is part 2 of 'Walther’s law of sedimentation – teaching it the Lego TM way: How does a relative fall in sea level affect a vertical sequence of sediments?'
Click here for other ELIs about stratigraphy and the sequencing of events.
The new ELI today is 'The soil water shake test; investigate the components of soil'.
There is a teaching video to accompany this activity.
This activity can be carried out as a teacher demonstration or as a group activity. It shows how the components of soil may be separated and studied. Various soil types can be compared.
In the Soil section of Earth Materials, you can find many more activities about soils.
Two new videos to explain melting ice and sea level rise - -
Melting ice and sea level change 1 – sea ice: does sea level change when floating sea ice melts?
Melting ice and sea level change 2 – ice caps: does sea level change when ice caps melt?
The first video investigates the impact on sea level when floating ice melts and the second video investigates the impact when ice caps melt.
Other Earthlearningideas about sea level change can be found by putting 'sea level' into the search engine or looking in the alphabetical index.
