GIS Data Resource

This information has been sent to us by the National Association of Geoscience Teachers, (NAGT)

Find GIS, is a new Florida GIS Data Resource site. The site includes GIS sources, Data Download Sites, FTP sites for all 67 Counties and all 418 Incorporated Areas (Cities, Towns, Villages, etc.) where available in Florida.

Free downloadable guide to Earthcaching

The Geological Society of America (GSA) has developed an educational subset of the international adventure game geocaching, called EarthCaching. People who search for EarthCaches download educational information about the sites from the EarthCache Web portal. They refer to these notes, use their GPS receivers and undertake educational tasks to enhance their Earth science literacy in the field. There are currently over 2200 EarthCaches in more than 37 countries.

Video clip of 'Dig up the dinosaur'

Currently, the video is only available on YouTube. We're in the process of uploading the video in another way for those who can't access YouTube.

The video can also be accessed via our website here
.

Comments on 'Dig up the Dinosaur' activity

Many thanks for the very useful comments received so far. These have been published on our website as extension ideas.
Please keep the ideas coming!

First Activity of 2008 - Dig up the dinosaur

The first activity for 2008 has been published on our website - 'Become a fossil hunter and dig up a dinosaur'. How does a scientist set about digging up a large fossil, like a dinosaur? How can scientists ensure that they obtain the maximum evidence from their discoveries and do not accidentally destroy vital clues?
This activity provides practice in working systematically, in contrast to simply grabbing an item as it is discovered. It could be used to amplify work on fossilisation. The use of a grid could be used to reinforce a lesson in maths or geography. This activity has always been very popular in the UK.

2008 - International Year of Planet Earth

'Earth science for society' from Geoscientist,Volume 18, January 2008. Eduardo de Mulder, Executive Director of the UN International Year of Planet Earth, (IYPE) wishes the planet a happy new Year.
"Welcome to 2008 - United Nations' International Year of Planet Earth. IYPE aims to capture people's imagination with exciting knowledge about our planet, and to use that knowledge to make our Earth a safer, healthier and wealthier place."

Earthlearningideas are Earth-related activities giving school children and students all over the world the opportunity to carry out simple activities which will enable them to understand how our planet works. From January 7th we shall be publishing one activity per week so by the end of 2008, you will have a huge bank of ideas with topics ranging from Natural Hazards to Resources and Environment. To view the 5 activities already published click here.
Please send us your comments via this blog or to info@earthlearningidea.com when you have tried any of the activities with your pupils.

Tsunami booklet

We have now published the spectacular 16-page tsunami booklet (pdf 2406 KB) by Ranjith Dediwalage on our website. We first mentioned it in our post of Tuesday 16th October. This has been sent to us by Geoscience Education and Outreach Services of Australia with permission from its author - - many thanks for this. Both artwork, photos, diagrams and content are excellent.