Earthquake in your classroom

Have you tried the Earthlearningidea 'An earthquake in your classroom; a classroom earthquake intensity scale'?

“Earthquakes don’t kill people; buildings do.”
This activity helps pupils to visualise what experiencing an earthquake of different intensities might be like. With some classes, it will need careful management!
Many other earthquake related activities can be found on our website.

What colour was the world in the past?

The new Earthlearningidea today is "What colour was the world in the past? Using rock evidence and ‘the present is the key to the past’ to colour the geological world".

This activity involves a discussion, using the colours of unweathered surface rocks and ‘the present is the key to the past’ to give a coloured picture of past geological worlds.
More teaching ideas about the Earth in the past and about uniformitarianism can be found by referring to the Geological Time category or by using the search engine or alphabetical index on our website.

How a rising mountain chain can reveal its hidden secrets

“Hooray and up she rises!*" How a rising mountain chain can reveal its hidden secrets

Modelling how erosion of the top of a mountain range is accompanied by isostatic uplift, eventually exposing rocks, once hidden deep below.
Many activities about mountain building and isostasy can be found by searching our website.
* From "The Drunken Sailor" sea shanty

Climate on arrival

Our new ELI today is 'Climate on arrival: if you suddenly arrived somewhere – what would tell you what the climate was like?'

This activity involves looking for features with your class that might be indicators of the current climate. After the activity the pupils can describe features of their local environment, noting not only natural aspects (vegetation) but also human influences (buildings, clothes). They can also explain the connections between the clues they have identified and the local climate.
Other activities related to environments can be found on our website by using the search engine or the alphabetical index.

Ammonites in the sea

'How did ammonites adjust their position in the sea? - The ups and downs of ammonites'

This clever demonstration shows how some animals which are buoyant in water can change their depth in the sea.
More activities relating to fossils can be found in the Evolution of Life category on our website.
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Does sea level change when ice caps melt?

Today's new ELI is 'Melting ice and sea level change 2 – ice caps: does sea level change when ice caps melt?'

The outcome of this activity is rather obvious: when continental ice sheets melt, sea level rises, and could rise by several metres if all the world’s land-based ice sheets and glaciers melt. However, taken with the work on the ‘sea ice’ in the 'Melting ice and sea level change 1 – sea ice' Earthlearningidea activity (where melting does not cause sea level rise) it will remind pupils of what happens and should enable them to handle press reports more critically.
Search our website for other activities related to climate change.

Journey to the centre of the Earth – on a toilet roll

'Journey to the centre of the Earth – on a toilet roll: just how thin is the crust we live on?'

We seldom stop to consider the true scale of many features of the Earth. This activity aims to enable pupils to visualise the thickness of the crust in relation to the rest of the Earth. It also helps them to appreciate the difference in depth between the oceanic crust and the continental crust. It introduces the terms ‘lithosphere’ and‘asthenosphere’ to help in understanding plate tectonic theory.
Visit our website for other related teaching ideas.