Panning for 'gold' in river sediment

Have you tried the Earthlearningidea, 'Gold prospectors'?

In this activity pupils are Iinvestigating how prospectors use the property of density to search for gold in river sediments. By doing this ELI, pupils develop motor skills as they experiment with the best method of separating materials; they can explain why density is a useful property in the separation of materials and can use their imaginations to visualise a real gold prospector in the field.
Another Earthlearningidea which used density of minerals for separation is 'Jigging'

This is a simple practical activity used to separate minerals of different density from each other. It is a small scale version of a method which was used for centuries.
Search the website for more ELIs about minerals and density.

New ELI today - Environmental evaluation

We continue our Fieldwork series with 'Environmental evaluation; developing a strategy for evaluating the environment'.  This activity helps your pupils to appreciate and evaluate the outdoor environment by carrying out an environmental evaluation at different sites and comparing their results. They are given a scale to use in environmental evaluation, and then asked to apply this scale to different environmental circumstances, that can range from a local small environment to a panoramic view. If you are successful, your pupils may return from holiday and tell you they’ve been to a ‘9’ holiday destination!
Lots more ideas for out of the classroom work can be found on our website.