Evidence for plate tectonics beneath the oceans

The new ELI today is 'Laser Quest 1 – below the waves; seeing evidence for plate tectonics beneath the oceans - using echo sounding'.

This activity is a simulation to demonstrate the principle behind the echo sounding method of mapping the ocean floor topography.

Related activities can be found in the 'Oceanography' and 'Plate tectonics' categories.

How do we measure sea floor depths and their relief?

 The ELI today is 'Measuring the depths of seas and oceans: How is it done? - a simple demonstration of how we measure sea floor depths and relief'.

This Earthlearningidea demonstrates ancient and modern methods of measuring and profiling sea and ocean floor depths.

Related activities can be found in our Oceanography category.

Continental split - modelling the birth of the Atlantic Ocean

Today's ELI is 'Continental split – the opening of the Atlantic Ocean; modelling how the continents moved, from Pangaea to today'.

This 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.

Other activities related to constructive or divergent plate margins can be seen in our Plate Tectonics category.

What would a major flood outside your window be like?

Our ELI today is about flooding 'Flood through the window - what would you see, how would you feel? Pupils picture for themselves what a major flood through the window might look like'.

This earthlearningidea uses a window as a teaching aid – what would a flood outside be like? There are a series of questions to answer. At the end of the exercise, pupils have a good understanding of flooding.

Related activities can be found in our Natural Hazards category.

Today we continue our theme of understanding geological time with "James Hutton – or ‘Mr. Rock Cycle’? Thinking towards the rock cycle, the Hutton way".

This activity involves a series of questions and answers that attempt to outline the possible thoughts of James Hutton as he developed his ideas in the context of what we now call the rock cycle.

Related Earthlearningideas can be found in our Geological Time category.

How to visualise the immensity of geological time

 The new ELI today is ‘Looking so far into the Abyss of Time’; how to visualise the immensity of geological time...with a rope!'

This Earthlearningidea is an exercise to demonstrate the extent of geological time-scales and the need for meaningful geological reference points, obtained from fossils and other geological events, recorded in the rock record.

Many related activities can be found in our Geological Time category.

Time gaps - what happened?

'Filling the gap – picturing the unconformity ‘abyss of time’? Working out what happened during unconformity time gaps'.

This Earthlearningidea is a  method of helping pupils to visualise the enormous time-spans between the upper and lower layers of unconformities.

Related activities can be found in our Geological Time category.