‘I’m pure calcium carbonate’ – the calcium carbonate question; a discussion focussed on common misconceptions about calcium carbonate.

This activity helps pupils to understand the likely purity of minerals and rocks.
Is limestone pure calcium carbonate? Is chalk? Find out by doing this Earthlearningidea.
Many more suggestions for activities about rocks and minerals can be found on our website by either using the search engine or the alphabetical index.

The new ELI today is another in our 'hands' series - 'Modelling faulting – by hand; using your hands to demonstrate different fault features'.

Pupils use their hands to illustrate the different types of faulting through this activity. Understanding and describing faulting involves complex terminology. This activity helps pupils to understand the processes and terms involved.
Lots of other ideas for teaching structural geology can be found on our website.

'Does my rock hold water and will water flow through it? Investigating the differences between porosity and permeability'.


This activity can be used in any science or geography lesson where the ability of rocks to hold water or hydrocarbons is being discussed.
Many similar hands-on activities, (where you can eat some of the equipment), can be found on our website.

New ELI today is - 'View to the future – and the past; using a viewpoint or overview educationally'.

A good view is often enough in itself to inspire pupils. However, by asking them to undertake this activity, they need to examine the landscape for surface processes that attack the land and then to visualise their effects in the past and the future.
More Earthlearningideas about the landscapes and environments around us can be found on our website.

'Boring chocolate! What can boreholes tell us about the Earth?'


This activity can be used in any science or geography lesson about finding what is beneath the Earth’s surface, including the search for natural resources and understanding past environments.
Many more hands-on (good-to-eat) activities can be found on our website.