Tuesday 29 January 2008

Soil Paintings

Painting with soil can be fun and educational as different minerals from underlying rocks give soils their different colours. The different colours of rivers was mentioned in one of the comments on our Soil erosion activity; click here and then on 'Extension - soil erosion'
The activity 'Why does soil get washed away?' may also be viewed on this link to our website. There is a video demonstration of the activity too. Click here to view the video.

Monday 28 January 2008

The Himalayas in 30 seconds!

How can this fossil of an extinct creature which lived and died in the sea, be found in rocks 5000m high in the Himalayan mountains? Find out by trying our latest Earthlearningidea 'The Himalayas in 30 seconds!' (click here).

This activity not only explains the formation of fold mountain ranges but could be used to extend a physics lesson on forces or to aid understanding the ways in which the Earth's surface features affect weather systems such as the monsoon, in geography.
Please try it out and let us have your comments and suggestions.

Sunday 27 January 2008

Video demo - The Himalayas in 30 seconds!



This video can also be accessed on our website (click here).

Comments from last Monday's Soil erosion activity

We have published two very interesting comments on 'Why does soil get washed away?'. They can be found in Extension Soil erosion (click here) on the Earth-related activities page of our website.

The painting, Erosion No 2 by Alexandre Hogue, is mentioned in one of the comments as useful for student discussion about soil erosion.

Monday 21 January 2008

Another new Earthlearningidea

We have just published our latest Earthlearningidea - 'Why does soil get washed away?' This is an investigation into why some farmers lose their soil through erosion and others do not. Soil erosion is a normal part of the natural rock cycle, but it can become a major problem in many rural areas where people depend on the land for their livelihood. This activity provides the opportunity to investigate some of the factors involved in limiting soil erosion.

Please send us your thoughts, comments and suggestions.

Video clip of 'Why does soil get washed away?'



For those of you who can't view this on YouTube, we've uploaded the video directly on to our website.

Saturday 19 January 2008

Link to the Norwegian Centre for Science Education

We are very pleased that Earthlearningidea is now linked to the Norwegian Centre for Science Education. The centre supports teachers of the geosciences and undertakes research into geoscience education.

Monday 14 January 2008

Imagine yourself in the rocky world

Our new activity is now on the website 'What was it like to be there - in the rocky world?' Bring a rock into the classroom that has lots of clues about how and where it formed. Ask your pupils to 'feel' what it was like to be there when the rock was being formed, e.g. swimming through a coral reef, walking in a desert, watching lava flow from a volcano.

Let us know how you get on.

Update: Dinosaur Dig Video

For those of you who can't use YouTube, we've uploaded the video directly on to our website.

Click here to view it.

Sunday 13 January 2008

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.

Thursday 10 January 2008

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
.

Wednesday 9 January 2008

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!

Monday 7 January 2008

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.


Tuesday 1 January 2008

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.