ELI home

Earth Energy/Processes Activities

Title & Description	English	More Ideas and Video
Banana benders Using a banana to simulate geological structures	Banana benders	Video
Blow up your own volcano! Demonstrate the importance of gases in volcanic eruptions	Blow up your own volcano!	Extension Volcano Simulator (Alaska Museum of Science & Nature) Video
Bubble-mania The bubbling clues to magma viscosity and eruptions	Bubble-mania
Bucket for a pothole: visualising past processes by calculation (ELI+) Modelling river pothole-formation by calculation – thinking through the assumptions	Bucket for a pothole
Changing coastlines Investigating how wave erosion, transportation and deposition can change the shapes of coastlines	Changing coastlines
Collapsing volcanoes - cauldron subsidence (ELI+) Forming circular ‘cauldron subsidence’ in jelly ‘volcanoes’	Collapsing volcanoes
Continental jigsaw puzzle (ELI+) Can you reassemble a supercontinent from a ‘jigsaw puzzle’?	Continental jigsaw puzzle
Continental split - the opening of the Atlantic Ocean Modelling how the continents moved, from Pangaea to today	Atlantic opening	Video
Continents in collision (ELI+) Modelling processes at a destructive (convergent) plate margin	Continents in collision	Extension
Cracking apart (ELI+) Simulating the weathering or rocks in a desert environment	Cracking apart
Cracking the clues Making your own cracking clues to the Earth’s past	Cracking the clues
Crystallisation in a pudding dish Simulating the formation and growth of crystal lattices	Crystallisation in a pudding dish
Danger - quicksands! Why do some rocks give way when it rains hard?	Quicksands
Did the continents move for you? (ELI+) Plotting the movement of continents using apparent polar wandering curves	Polar wandering curves
Dust bowl Investigating wind erosion	Dust bowl	Extension
Earth time jigsaw puzzle Plot the moving continents, from the past to the future	Earth time jigsaw puzzle
Evidence from the deep freeze Photographs of glacial and periglacial landscapes	Glacial and periglacial landscapes
Failing slopes Modelling how rock cliffs and slopes can collapse	Failing slopes
Faults in a MarsTM Bar Pulling apart a MarsTM Bar to model a divergent plate margin	Faults in a MarsTM Bar
Fluids, friction and failure How can unseen fluids affect the movement along faults and glacier beds?	Fluids, friction, failure
From folds to crustal shortening: visualising past processes by calculation (ELI+) Modelling folding by calculation – thinking through the assumptions	Folds to crustal shortening
From river sediment to stripey rocks Modelling the build up of different layers of sediment as seen in sedimentary rocks	River sediment to stripey rocks
Grinding and gouging How moving ice can grind away rocks	Grinding and gouging	Video (Portuguese intro)
Heat transfer - The heat is on Modelling the movement of heat from the Earth’s core outwards	Heat transfer
Himalayas in 30 seconds! Making a miniature fold mountain range in an empty box	Himalayas in 30 seconds!	Extension Video
Hotspots (ELI+) Modelling the movement of a plate across the globe	Hotspots
Ice power (ELI+) Freezing water in a syringe to measure expansion	Ice power
Ice-thickness from scratch: visualising past processes by calculation (ELI+) Modelling glacial striation-formation by calculation – thinking through the assumptions	Ice thickness from striations
Isostasy 1 (ELI+) Modelling the state of ‘balance’ of the Earth’s outer layers	Isostasy 1
Isostasy 2 (ELI+) ‘Bouncing back’ after the ice	Isostasy 2
Isostasy - “Hooray and up she rises!” How a rising mountain chain can reveal its hidden secrets	Rising mountains
James Hutton - or ‘Mr. Rock Cycle’? (ELI+) Thinking towards the rock cycle, the Hutton way	James Hutton	Rock cycle song
Karstic scenery - in 60 seconds Modelling the chemical weathering of limestone	Karstic scenery
Magnetic stripes (ELI+) Modelling the symmetrical magnetic pattern of the rocks of the sea floor	Magnetic stripes
Mantle plume in a beaker (ELI+) Modelling processes at a constructive (divergent) plate margin	Mantle plume
Margarine mountain-building Making mountains every time you make a sandwich	Margarine mountains
Merry waves - all year round (ELI+) Modelling how the energy of seismic waves is transmitted	Merry waves
Metamorphic aureole in a tin (ELI+) Investigate what controls the changes in temperature around an igneous intrusion	Metamorphic aureole
Metamorphism - that’s Greek for ‘change of shape’ isn’t it? What changes can we expect when rocks are put under great pressure in the Earth?	Metamorphism	Extension Video
Mighty river in a small gutter Sediments on the move	Mighty river in a small gutter	Extension
Mighty river in a small gutter: Investigating small-scale sedimentary processes AND modelling mighty rivers The ‘Mighty River in a small gutter’ Earthlearningidea activity used at different scales	River processes at different scales
Model a spreading ocean floor offset by transform faults A model of the transform fault ‘steps’ in oceanic ridges and their magnetic stripes	Transform faults	Video
Modelling by hand ‘when the youngest rock is not on top’ Illustrating how rock sequences can have older rocks on top of younger one	Youngest rock is not on top
Modelling Earth stresses with your hands Hand modelling of compression, tension and shear in the Earth	Modelling Earth stresses with your hands
Modelling faulting – by hand Using your hands to demonstrate different fault features	Modelling faulting - by hand
Modelling folding – by hand Using your hands to demonstrate different fold features	Modelling folding - by hand
Modelling right way up or upside down? - modelling anti- and synforms by hand Use your hands to show how the beds in folds can be the right way up or inverted	Modelling anti- and synforms by hand
Modelling remote sensing geophysics (ELI+) Using a mock gravitometer and magnetometer set up in the classroom	Remote sensing geophysics
Modelling unconformity – by hand Using your hands to demonstrate how unconformities form	Modelling unconformity - by hand
Partial melting - simple process, huge global impact (ELI+) How partial melting, coupled with plate tectonics, has changed the chemistry of our planet	Partial melting	Extension
Partial melting model and real rock (ELI+) Comparing a model with reality to develop understanding of the partial melting process	Partial melting model and real rock
Plate margins and movement by hand Modelling plate margins and plate movement with your hands	Plate margins and movement by hand
Plate riding (ELI+) Role-play plate-surfing to ask: ‘How is the plate you live on moving now?’	Plate riding
Plate tectonics through the window (ELI+) What might you see through a window or porthole at an active plate margin?	Plate tectonics through the window	Video - subduction (Oxford Sparks)
Rock cycle at your fingertips Modelling the rock cycle with your fingers	Rock cycle at your fingertips	Rock cycle song
Rock, rattle and roll Investigating the resistance of rocks to erosion by shaking in a plastic container	Rock, rattle and roll	Video Video (Portuguese intro)
Rolling, hopping, floating and invisibly moving along Investigating how sediment is transported by water	Sediment transport in water
Salt of the Earth Who can make the biggest salt crystal?	Salt of the Earth	Extension
Sandcastles and slopes What makes sandcastles and slopes collapse?	Sandcastles and slopes
Sand ripple marks in a tank How symmetrical ripple marks form in sand	Sand ripple marks in a tank	Extension Video
Sand ripple marks in a washbowl How asymmetrical ripple marks form in sand	Sand ripple marks in a washbowl	Extension Video
Sedimentary structures - cross-bedding and ancient currents Using cross bedding to find the directions of ancient currents	Cross-bedding and ancient currents
Sedimentary structures - cross-bedding and ‘way-up’ Using cross bedding to determine the way-up of a bed of sedimentary rock	Cross-bedding and ‘way-up’
Sedimentary structures - graded bedding Make your own graded bed - one depositional event, but with coarse to fine sediment	Graded bedding
Sedimentary structures - imbrication Which way did the river flow?	Imbrication
Sedimentary structures - load casts Interpreting odd bumps on the bases of beds	Load casts
Sedimentary structures - sole marks Evidence from the base of a sedimentary bed	Sole marks
See how they run Investigate why some lavas flow further and more quickly than others	See how they run	Volcano Simulator (Alaska Museum of Science & Nature)
Shell shake - survival of the toughest Why is the fossil record incomplete?	Shell shake
Squeezed out of shape Detecting the distortion after rocks have been affected by Earth movements	Squeezed out of shape
Swiss roll surgery Investigating geological structures and their outcrops using sponge rolls	Swiss roll surgery
Teacher - ‘What’s the difference between weathering and erosion?’ Addressing common misconceptions about weathering and erosion	Weathering and erosion
Unfair ‘build your own crystal’ race (ELI+) A crystal building ‘race’ showing the greater the time available, the larger the crystals	Unfair ‘build your own crystal’ race
Valley in 30 seconds - pulling rocks apart Investigating faulting in an empty box	Valley in 30 seconds	Extension Video
View from above: living tectonism What was it like to be there – on top of a mountain-building collision?	View from above
Visualising plunging folds - with your hands and a piece of paper Using your hands and folded/torn paper to show the patterns made by plunging folds	Plunging folds with your hands and paper
Volcano and dykes/jelly and cream - radial dykes (ELI+) Intruding cream radial ‘dykes’ into jelly ‘volcanoes’ until they erupt	Volcanoes and radial dykes
Volcano in the lab (ELI+) Modelling igneous processes in wax and sand	Volcano in the lab	Extension
Weathering limestone - with my own breath! (ELI+) A classroom demonstration of how limestone is weathered	Weathering limestone
Weathering - rocks breaking up and breaking down Matching pictures and descriptions of weathered rocks with the processes of weathering that formed them	Weathering - rocks breaking up and breaking down
Wegener’s ‘Continental drift’ meets Wilson’s ‘Plate tectonics’ (ELI+) How Wegener’s continental drift evidence matches up with evidence for plate tectonics	Wegener’s ‘Continental drift’ meets Wilson’s ‘Plate tectonics’
What drives the plates? Using a pupil model to demonstrate that slab pull is the main plate-driving force	What drives the plates?
What was it like to be there? – clues in sediment which bring an environment to life Bringing a depositional environment to life using evidence from sedimentary structures	Clues to ancient environments
Why do igneous rocks have different crystal sizes? (ELI+) Simulating crystallisation from a melt at different rates of cooling	Crystals in igneous rocks	Video (ESEU, Keele)