Earth Learning Idea

Rock history of an exceptional piece of slate

noreply@blogger.com (Earth Learning Idea) — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 11:32:00 +0000

Following on from looking at metamorphic rocks last week, today we investigate an exceptional piece of slate - 'Every rock tells a story; reading the rock history from an exceptional specimen of slate'.

This ELI gives a detailed analysis of structures of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic origin in a single rock specimen. The photo of the specimen is fully annotated in the activity.

Related activities can be found in Rocks in our Earth Materials category.

Looking at Metamorphic rocks

noreply@blogger.com (Earth Learning Idea) — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 19:17:00 +0000

Today's ELI is 'Building Stones 4 - Metamorphic rocks; what are the differences between metamorphic rocks commonly used as building stones'.

This activity uses photographs of metamorphic rocks used for ornamental purposes. This activity follows ‘Building Stones 1’ and is intended for pupils to deepen their understanding of metamorphic rocks. A table showing how the series of Earthlearningidea building stone activities link together is given on the final page.

Related activities can be found in Rocks in our Earth Materials category.

Why do slopes collapse?

noreply@blogger.com (Earth Learning Idea) — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 11:01:00 +0000

Today we are continuing our theme of slope stability with 'Sandcastles and slopes; what makes sandcastles and slopes collapse?'

This activity investigates the factors which affect the angle at which loose materials rest before they begin to slide.

Related activities can be found in the Natural Hazards category - Landslides and failing slopes.

How rock cliffs and slopes can collapse

noreply@blogger.com (Earth Learning Idea) — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 10:00:00 +0000

'Failing slopes; modelling how rock cliffs and slopes can collapse'.

This activity investigates the factors which affect the angle of slope at which materials fail and slip. It could be used in a lesson on slope failure itself, or as an application of the physics of friction.

Watch the teaching video

Demonstrate ocean currents and density currents in a lunch box

noreply@blogger.com (Earth Learning Idea) — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 10:35:00 +0000

'Atmosphere and ocean in a lunchbox; a model for all pupils – of hot, cold and cloudy density currents

This ELI develops an earlier teacher demonstration in 'Atmosphere and ocean in a tank' into a smaller-scale model for pupil group use.

It explains how warm ocean water, or warm air, rises upwards while cold ocean water or cold air, sinks. It then demonstrates how density currents flow in the water, or air, and can be used as an analogy of density currents in the oceans and atmosphere.

Related activities can be found in our Oceanography category.

Finding microplastics in your environment

noreply@blogger.com (Earth Learning Idea) — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 11:33:00 +0000

Our new very exciting ELI today is 'The invisible plastic problem – can you find what the eye can’t see? - finding microplastics in the local environment using simple separation techniques'.

This activity introduces pupils to environmental sampling and density separation. It demonstrates how a saturated salt solution can be used to isolate microplastics from soil or sediment and shows how pollution can be studied using simple materials.

Other activities in this category can be found in 'Environment'.

Trying to imagine the enormity of geological time

noreply@blogger.com (Earth Learning Idea) — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 10:17:00 +0000

Have you tried 'Counting to one million? - trying to imagine the enormity of geological time'.

This Earthlearningidea is an activity to help young children to understand deep time.

Related activities can be found in our Geological Time category - Visualising deep time.

How many sand grains are on that beach? Too many to count . . but can we work it out?

noreply@blogger.com (Earth Learning Idea) — Mon, 16 Feb 2026 12:31:00 +0000

And now for something completely different - such is the scope of Earthlearningideas. 'How many sand grains are there in a bucket – or on a beach? - planning activities to estimate the number of sand grains in a bucket – or on a beach'.

This activity is a planning exercise to estimate large numbers of very small items.

More Earthlearningideas involving some maths can be found in our Cross Category topics - Maths in ELIs

Make your own soil

noreply@blogger.com (Earth Learning Idea) — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 12:18:00 +0000

Last week, we published 'Make your own bricks'. Today we have, 'Make your own soil; investigating the type and origin of the ingredients of soil'.

This activity can be used in any lesson about the environment, rocks and landscape, agriculture, gardening or investigations out of doors.

Go to ELI Early years for related activities.

Have fun with mud - make your own bricks

noreply@blogger.com (Earth Learning Idea) — Mon, 02 Feb 2026 11:23:00 +0000

Our new ELI this month is an addition to our ELI Early years activities 'Mud, Mud, glorious mud*; make your own bricks'.

This activity involves carefully measuring ingredients to make a pliable mud. The mud is then baked in the sun or in an oven to make bricks. The bricks can then be painted and/or used to make structures.

Related activities can be found in Engineering and Industrial geology in our Earth Materials category, or you can search for our 'Make your own . . .' series.

* from Flanders and Swan ‘The Hippopotamus Song’

Sedimentary building stones

noreply@blogger.com (Earth Learning Idea) — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 10:37:00 +0000

Today, we are continuing to look at building stones with 'Building Stones 3 – Sedimentary rocks; how do the sedimentary rocks used for building stones differ?'.

A small group activity using photographs of sedimentary rocks used as building stones or for ornamental purposes. This activity follows ‘Building Stones 1’ and is intended for pupils to deepen their understanding of sedimentary rocks. A table showing how the series of Earthlearningidea building stone activities link together is given on the final page.

Related activities can be found in our Earth Materials category - Rocks.

Identifying building stones

noreply@blogger.com (Earth Learning Idea) — Mon, 19 Jan 2026 10:55:00 +0000

Have you ever wondered about all the beautiful building stones you see when you walk round most towns and cities? Try this ELI - 'Building Stones 1– a resource for several Earthlearningidea activities; use a key to identify many different attractive-looking rocks'.

A small group activity in the identification of a wide range of rock types, using natural-scale photographs of rocks used as building stones or for ornamental purposes. The sheets of photographs are intended for use as the basis for several further activities.

Related activities can be found in our Rocks section of the Earth Materials category.

Solve the mystery of the dinosaur footprints

noreply@blogger.com (Earth Learning Idea) — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 12:16:00 +0000

Today we are continuing to look at footprints with 'The meeting of the dinosaurs - 100 million years ago; the evidence given by dinosaur footprints'.

Fossil tracks, such as footprints, can provide a great deal of evidence about the environment at the time when they were made and about how the animals lived and moved.

Related activities can be found in our Dinosaurs, Evolution of Life category.

Making footprints in sand for others to interpret

noreply@blogger.com (Earth Learning Idea) — Mon, 05 Jan 2026 12:24:00 +0000

Our new ELI today is 'What were the animals doing? Interpreting footprints and other marks in the sand.'

Footprints and other traces of animals, found as fossils, can tell us a great deal about what the animals were doing at the time. Pupils make footprints in sand for others to interpret. This is great fun!

Related activities can be found in our Evolution of Life category - dinosaurs.

Using rock evidence to colour the geological past

noreply@blogger.com (Earth Learning Idea) — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 16:31:00 +0000

"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 ELI 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.

Related activities can be found in our 'Environment' category.

How did the conditions differ between today and when the rock was formed?

noreply@blogger.com (Earth Learning Idea) — Mon, 22 Dec 2025 19:42:00 +0000

Our ELI today is 'Now and then – spotting the difference; how did the conditions differ between today and when the rock was formed?'

This ELI is a thought experiment, attempting to compare various aspects of the environment when the rock was formed, with conditions today.

Related activities can be found in our Environment category.

What was it like to be there when that rock was forming?

noreply@blogger.com (Earth Learning Idea) — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 10:42:00 +0000

'What was it like to be there – in the rocky world? - bringing the formation of solid rock to life – by imagining yourself there when it formed'.

This activity asks pupils questions relating to all the senses to try to bring past environments of the formation of rocks to life.

Related Earthlearningideas can be found in our Rocks section of the Earth Materials category.

How to work out the lifestyles of extinct animals

noreply@blogger.com (Earth Learning Idea) — Mon, 08 Dec 2025 16:19:00 +0000

Our ELI today is 'Curious creatures; using fossil and modern evidence to work out the lifestyles of extinct animals'.

This activity provides a snapshot of the history of life on Earth.

Related activities can be found in our 'Evolution of Life' category - fossils (mostly invertebrates)

How did ammonites try to escape their predators?

noreply@blogger.com (Earth Learning Idea) — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 14:11:00 +0000

And now for something completely different . . . 'The ups and downs of ammonites; how did ammonites adjust their position in the sea'.

This activity demonstrates how some animals which are buoyant in water can change their depth in the sea.

Related activities about fossils can be found in our Evolution of Life category - Fossils (mostly invertebrates).

Identifying rocks

noreply@blogger.com (Earth Learning Idea) — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 11:59:00 +0000

This is the second ELI about identifying rocks in an outdoor collection - 'A forgotten rock garden - 2; help a geologist identify a treasured outdoor collection'.

This activity involves matching a set of photographs to their descriptions and locating them on an overall scene. It could form a useful revision activity, once pupils have acquired experience of a range of rocks. The answers are provided in the text.

Related activities can be found in 'Rocks' in our Earth Materials category.

How do minerals like tin and lead form? - a demonstration of hydrothermal mineralisation?

noreply@blogger.com (Earth Learning Idea) — Mon, 17 Nov 2025 14:55:00 +0000

How do hydrothermal minerals form? Our ELI today gives the answer - "Interactive hydrothermal mineralisation: ‘the rock with the hole’ hydrothermal mineralisation demo".

This ELI is a demonstration of how hydrothermal fluids flow through rocks, presented in a way to interact with pupils.

Other activities related to minerals can be found in our Earth Materials, Minerals category.

Investigating catastrophic natural processes in your region in the geological past

noreply@blogger.com (Earth Learning Idea) — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 10:58:00 +0000

Our Earthlearningidea today is 'What catastrophic natural processes affected your region in the geological past? Use the evidence in your local region to interpret dramatic geological events.'

This activity involves Interpreting photographic evidence of catastrophic events in the geological past – how could this thinking be applied to your area?

Related activities can be found in our Natural Hazards category.

Natural hazards in your local area

noreply@blogger.com (Earth Learning Idea) — Mon, 03 Nov 2025 10:58:00 +0000

Following the devastating destruction by hurricane Melissa in Jamaica, we are exploring possible natural hazards that could occur in your area - - 'Which natural hazards could damage the area where you live? How safe is your home area?'

This activity encourages pupils to look around their local region to suggest what natural hazards might affect it in the future.

Related activities can be found in our Natural Hazards category.

Working out the geological history from photographs

noreply@blogger.com (Earth Learning Idea) — Mon, 27 Oct 2025 15:39:00 +0000

The new ELI today is 'Some classic Scottish geology revealed; how good are you at establishing a geological history from photographs?'

In this activity pupils are asked to examine photographic evidence to establish a geological history of a small area, and to assess the reliability of their conclusions.

Related activities can be found in our Geological Time category - Stratigraphy and Sequences.

Local impact of government's 'net-zero' targets for carbon emissions

noreply@blogger.com (Earth Learning Idea) — Mon, 20 Oct 2025 09:56:00 +0000

Continuing our 'green' theme - 'How will the ‘net-zero’ target affect your local area? - assessing the local impact of the government’s ‘net-zero’ targets for carbon emissions'

This activity involves discussions about how climate change mitigation and adaptation measures might affect your local area.

Other related activities can be found on our 'net zero carbon emissions' page of the website.