Make some working models of wells

Our new Earthlearningidea is 'Well, well, well!' In this activity, pupils are encouraged to make two working models of a well, one simple and the other more complex. For either model, they are asked to answer the following questions:-
• Is there is an underground lake in the model?
• Where is the water?
• What is needed to maintain the supply of water?
• Could the well be pumped dry?
• Are wells used to supply water in all countries or just some countries?
The activity is simple enough to be understood by children of all ages, and can be used in any lesson, e.g. in science or geography where water supply is being taught, or where renewable and non-renewable resources are featured.
This is one of many 'watery activities' stored on our website. For a complete list, refer to 'Teaching strategies'.

Riches in the river

'Riches in the river' is an ELI activity that investigates how valuable ores may become concentrated on river beds. After doing this ELI, pupils can explain how moving water can separate particles of different density; predict where best to look for gold and dense ores on a river bed and explain how density differences can be used to separate valuable ores from less dense waste in a commercial situation.
This is one of many hands-on activities which  is fun to set up and carry out and which will motivate and interest pupils while teaching them a lot more than just a bit of science! Click on our website for hundreds more innovative ideas.

Match landscape photos to a geological map

Today, we have published the last in our geological mapwork series, 'Geological mapwork: using surface geology to make a geological map'. In this activity pupils are asked to match the photos to the geological map. If pupils have worked their way through the ELI mapwork activities so far, they should now be able to complete this new activity successfully. The complete list of mapwork activities is currently on the home page, but it will be stored permanently on our 'Teaching strategies' page.

ELI Photo Gallery

We have started the Earthlearningidea photo gallery and have included photos of ELI workshops being carried out in different parts of the world. 
So, please send us photos of pupils and teachers using ELI activities!
Earthlearningidea team

Igneous rocks used as building stones

To continue our theme of building stones, we have added 'Building stones 2 - Igneous rocks'.  This is a small group activity using photographs of igneous rocks used for ornamental purposes. This ELI follows ‘Building Stones 1’ and is intended for pupils to deepen their understanding of igneous rocks. A table showing how the series of Earthlearningidea building stone activities link together is given on the final page.
Visit our website for lots more hands-on activities.

ELI translated into Catalan!

We are delighted to announce the publication of our first Earthlearningidea into Catalan. Many thanks to Xavier Juan, vice-president of AEPECT (Asociación Española para la enseñanza de las Ciencas de la Tierra) and Spanish coordinator for Science across the world.
The first activity to be translated is Còctel erosiu or, in English, 'Rock, rattle and roll'. This activity investigates rock resistance and helps pupils to understand why mountains and hills are generally made of more resistant rock than valleys and lowland.


The ELI team would be very grateful if someone could send a better short video clip than the one we are using to demonstrate this activity!

Do-it-yourself dip and strike model

Our latest ELI, published today, is 'The DIY dip and strike model'. This activity uses a model to measure dip, dip direction, strike and apparent dip. It includes a clinometer that your pupils can make for themselves. Pupils are asked to make a model that they can then keep, reminding them how dip and strike are measured and how apparent dips differ from true
dip.
This activity is one of the progression and spiralling of spatial thinking skills shown by the Earthlearningidea ‘Geological mapwork from scratch’ exercises and the ‘Geological mapwork from models’ exercises.
All of these can be found on our website in the 'Investigating the Earth' category.