Tuesday 27 March 2012

Hydrothermal mineralisation - 'the rock with with the hole'

The new ELI this week is "Interactive hydrothermal mineralisation; 'the rock with the hole' demo". The mineralising chemicals dissolved in hydrothermal fluids have two possible sources:
a) when rocks deep underground are heated, the fluids they contain are able to dissolve minerals in the surrounding rocks more readily, and then the hot fluids rise;
b) when igneous magmas cool, at a late stage of cooling, a watery fluid rich in mineralising chemicals often separates and rises.
Tin, lead, copper and iron are common metallic hydrothermal minerals.
This is one of many interactive, hands-on Earth-related activities which can all be found on our website.

Tuesday 13 March 2012

The Geoconservation debate

The new ELI this week is 'Take it or leave it? - the geoconservation debate; when is collecting wrong, and when is it right? Try to decide for yourself' Should you take geological specimens away from the site where they are found? This is a difficult question and it depends on where you are and who you are.
This activity asks pupils to discuss which minerals/ rocks/ fossils could be collected and which should be left for others to use or enjoy. Pupils are given ten cards of the type and situation of different mineral/ rock/ fossil specimens and are asked to discuss the best place for these on a scale of ‘always take’ to ‘never take’. The ‘answers’ depend upon a range of circumstances. Possible ‘answers’ are listed in the activity.
This is one of many thought-provoking, Earth-related activities on our website.

Thursday 8 March 2012

Incorrect links

For a reason unknown to us at the moment, any link beyond the Earthlearningidea home page is not working. If you require, or already have, links to the pdfs, please go to the ELI home page and use the search facilities from there.
Our next ELI is 'Take it or leave it? - the geoconservation debate. This will be published next Tuesday, 13th March.
Earthlearningidea team

Tuesday 6 March 2012

Darwin's 'big coral atoll idea'

When Darwin sailed round the world on the ‘Beagle’ in the 1830s he noticed small islands made of low circular coral reefs like those in the photo. These circular reefs were scattered across the deep oceans of the tropics. Try ‘thinking like Darwin did’ to work out how they formed. Use the search engine from our website to find the activity.
This is one of many ELIs in our 'Investigating the Earth' category.