Soil Paintings

Painting with soil can be fun and educational as different minerals from underlying rocks give soils their different colours. The different colours of rivers was mentioned in one of the comments on our Soil erosion activity; click here and then on 'Extension - soil erosion'
The activity 'Why does soil get washed away?' may also be viewed on this link to our website. There is a video demonstration of the activity too. Click here to view the video.

The Himalayas in 30 seconds!

How can this fossil of an extinct creature which lived and died in the sea, be found in rocks 5000m high in the Himalayan mountains? Find out by trying our latest Earthlearningidea 'The Himalayas in 30 seconds!' (click here).

This activity not only explains the formation of fold mountain ranges but could be used to extend a physics lesson on forces or to aid understanding the ways in which the Earth's surface features affect weather systems such as the monsoon, in geography.
Please try it out and let us have your comments and suggestions.

Video demo - The Himalayas in 30 seconds!

This video can also be accessed on our website (click here).

Comments from last Monday's Soil erosion activity

We have published two very interesting comments on 'Why does soil get washed away?'. They can be found in Extension Soil erosion (click here) on the Earth-related activities page of our website.

The painting, Erosion No 2 by Alexandre Hogue, is mentioned in one of the comments as useful for student discussion about soil erosion.

Another new Earthlearningidea

We have just published our latest Earthlearningidea - 'Why does soil get washed away?' This is an investigation into why some farmers lose their soil through erosion and others do not. Soil erosion is a normal part of the natural rock cycle, but it can become a major problem in many rural areas where people depend on the land for their livelihood. This activity provides the opportunity to investigate some of the factors involved in limiting soil erosion.

Please send us your thoughts, comments and suggestions.

Video clip of 'Why does soil get washed away?'

For those of you who can't view this on YouTube, we've uploaded the video directly on to our website.

Link to the Norwegian Centre for Science Education

We are very pleased that Earthlearningidea is now linked to the Norwegian Centre for Science Education. The centre supports teachers of the geosciences and undertakes research into geoscience education.