Crochet or knit your own woolly fossils

'Get geo-creative; making your own woolly fossils' is an extension idea for 'What was it like to be there? – bringing a fossil to life'.

                                    Jessica Goddard                                   Laura Hamilton

Using one of the readily available patterns, pupils (and teachers) can crochet or knit their own fossils. They could then try answering the following questions about them:-
- What sort of place was this animal living in?
- What did it breathe?
- What did it eat?
- Was it a hunter? – or hunted? – or both?
- What could it have seen?
- What could it have sensed?
- How did it die? – can we tell?
- What happened after it died?
Lots more ideas related to fossils can be found on our website.

Continental drift

The new ELI today is 'The Earth time jigsaw puzzle; plot the moving continents, from the past to the future'.

This activity helps pupils to understand the great length of geological time and the movement of continents over time. You can find other Earthlearningideas about continental drift on the website.

Geology Today - Earthlearningidea article

'Earthlearningidea—two million and counting: bringing Earth science ideas to teachers across the world' 
This is the title of an article by Peter Kennett of the ELI Team. It has just been published in the latest edition of Geology Today.

Why is the Dead Sea dead?

Why is the Dead Sea dead? This is a classroom activity to measure the density of water of different salinities.

The Dead Sea in the rift valley between Jordan and Israel is the lowest point on land on the Earth’s surface. Most of the water that flows into the Dead Sea does not flow out again but is evaporated in the highly arid conditions. At the end of this ELI, pupils can:-
- describe how dissolving salt in water increases the density of the water;
- describe how a ‘floater’ can be used to measure the density of solutions.
Many more good ideas for teaching can be found on our website.

Investigating building materials around your school and local area

Today's new ELI is 'Rock around your school; investigating the building materials around your school and in your area'.

This activity can be used in science or geography lessons. It illustrates Earth science principles out of doors, often without a natural rock in sight, and engages pupils in discussions about Earth processes and products.
Many more activities are listed on our website.

The opening of the Atlantic Ocean

'Continental split - the opening of the Atlantic Ocean; modelling how the continents moved, from Pangaea to today'  This ELI 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.

This activity could be used in any science or geography lesson about sea floor spreading and Wegener’s concept of continental drift. A video clip accompanies the activity.
Many more activities about plate tectonics and continental drift can be found on our website.

Calcium carbonate misconceptions

The new ELI just published is ‘I’m pure calcium carbonate’ – the calcium carbonate question; a discussion focussed on common misconceptions about calcium carbonate.

Are limestone and chalk rocks made of pure calcium carbonate? What about the mineral calcite? This activity helps pupils to understand the likely purity of minerals and rocks.
Many activities to do with limestone and chalk landscapes, the weathering of limestones and the carbon cycle can be found on our website.