Geology & Earth Science

Teaching Resources & Lesson Plans

  • 'GeoBus' is a free educational outreach project for schools developed and run by the School of Earth & Environmental Sciences at the University of St Andrews since 2012. GeoBus has a lot of online resources, including lesson plans and activity sheets, for teachers and parents, including;

    • 'Popping Canisters' (ages 11+) - use things you can find at home to demonstrate how volcanic eruptions occur, and see the build-up of CO2 in action, courtesy of GeoBus

    • 'Earth Forces, including plate tectonics, earthquakes & volcanoes' (ages 11-15) - this lesson investigates the forces that cause geohazards, including energy released during them, and can be replicated at home with free apps rather than fancy equipment, courtesy of the GeoBus

    • 'Exploration & Resources; Coring through Time' (ages 11-15) - this lesson uses food products (chocolate bars!) to illustrate different rock layers, courtesy of the GeoBus

  • The Geological Society of America produced a large volume of teaching resources during a refresh in the early-mid 2000s, which are now all available free of charge to the education community. They copy common topics across geography & Earth sciences, including;

    • 'Explore Fossils' (ages 7-11) - build on your students' fascination with fossils by using these specially designed resources. Full teacher notes, easily reproducible activities, and 3-D models will have your students all budding palaeontologists! Courtesy of the Geological Society of America (please note this resource was designed for an US audience, so may not align with the UK National Curriculum)

    • 'Explore Geoscience Models' (ages 5-13) - this resource contains 48 3-D paper models that you can print on any printer for construction using scissors and glue. Model topics include Plate Tectonics, Volcanoes, Earthquakes, Fossils, and more. Some models also are provided in black/white for students to hand color. Courtesy of the Geological Society of America (please note this resource was designed for an US audience, so may not align with the UK National Curriculum)

    • 'Explore Geological Cross Sections' (ages 11+) - A classroom teaching resource that provides examples of the basic rock relationships (diagrams and photographs) followed by a range of simple to complex activities. Courtesy of the Geological Society of America (please note this resource was designed for an US audience, so may not align with the UK National Curriculum)

    • 'Explore Plate Tectonics' (ages 11+) - help your students understand the history and current evidence of the plate tectonics theory with this resource-packed digital product. Full teacher notes, reproducible student activities, and suggested answers in PDF format are complemented by fantastic images, diagrams, and three 3-D model cutouts to use in your classroom. Courtesy of the Geological Society of America (please note this resource was designed for an US audience, so may not align with the UK National Curriculum)

    • 'Explore Earthquakes' (ages 11+) - this is a teacher resource on Earthquakes (developed in partnership with IRIS). It contains all the very best Earthquake teaching resources all in one product! Teaching notes, student activities, fact sheets, images, and 3D models. Courtesy of the Geological Society of America (please note this resource was designed for an US audience, so may not align with the UK National Curriculum)

    • 'Explore Earth Cycles' (ages 11+) - what is the Chemistry of the Earth? Where are chemicals stored and how do they move around our planet? The resource contains full teaching notes, colorful diagrams, and raw data which students can manipulate and play onto period tables. Courtesy of the Geological Society of America (please note this resource was designed for an US audience, so may not align with the UK National Curriculum)

    • 'Explore Volcanoes' (ages 5-11) - this resource is designed to teach younger children all about the wonder of volcanoes, including detailed teaching notes, reproducible elementary level activities, diagrams, images, and 3-D models. Courtesy of the Geological Society of America (please note this resource was designed for an US audience, so may not align with the UK National Curriculum)

    • 'Explore Volcanoes' (ages 12-16) - this resource is designed to teach secondary children all about the wonder of volcanoes, including detailed teaching notes, reproducible elementary level activities, diagrams, images, and 3-D models. Courtesy of the Geological Society of America (please note this resource was designed for an US audience, so may not align with the UK National Curriculum)

    • 'Explore Deep Time' (ages 11+) - enhance your teaching with background on the history of our understanding of geological time and explanations of relative age dating and radiometric dating. Full teacher notes, reproducible student activities and suggested answers in PDF format are complemented by colorful diagrams and models to use in your classroom. Courtesy of the Geological Society of America (please note this resource was designed for an US audience, so may not align with the UK National Curriculum)

Online Activities

  • 'Virtual Microscope' - primarily an Open Educational Resource (OER), the project aims to make a step change in the teaching of Earth Sciences by broadening access to rock collections that are currently held in museums, universities and other institutions around the world.

  • The Geology of the United Kingdom viewer is an interactive online tool available courtesy of the British Geological Survey (BGS), and includes both bedrock and superficial geology. 3D models, borehole scans, and an earthquake timeline can be toggled on/off.

  • 'Open Learn' from the Open University has a wide range of free, online courses at various levels that are suitable for older children and adults (14+), including various topics relevant to Geology & Earth Sciences;

    • 'An Introduction to Geology' - you will be introduced to some key geological processes that impact everyday life, as you discover the link between volcanoes and your mobile phone, and find out why tiny marine wildlife is at the core of the plastics industry. You will learn about the various types of rock, and explore how, where and why different rocks and natural resources form across the Earth.

    • 'An Introduction to Rocks & Minerals Under the Microscope' - you will experience the study of minerals using a polarising microscope. While the study of minerals can involve electron or ion beam chemical analysis, the polarising microscope remains the prime tool for the study of rock thin sections and is the foundation of learning to recognise, characterise and identify rocks.

    • 'Volcanic Hazards' - this course discusses the various hazards posed by different types of volcanic eruption, illustrated by examples from recent eruptions.

    • 'Life in the Palaeozoic' - Fossils are a glimpse into the distant past and fascinate young and old alike. This course will introduce you to the explosion of evolution that took place during the Palaeozoic era. You will look at the many different types of creatures that existed at that time and how they managed to evolve to exist on land.

    • 'Earthquakes' - Earthquakes shake the ground surface, can cause buildings to collapse, disrupt transport and services, and can cause fires. They can trigger landslides and tsunami in short, earthquakes can be very destructive. In this course, you will look at why, where and what happens when they occur and also at how earthquakes are assessed qualitatively and quantitatively.

Activity Kits & Ideas for Home Learning

  • 'Mantle in a Bottle' (ages 7-11) - make your own lava lamp, to investigate how convection takes place in the Earth’s mantle, worksheet & resources provided by the Earth & Solar System group, University of Manchester

  • 'Lava Flow Races' (ages 7-11) - make golden syrup lava to investigate how lava flows when it has erupted from a volcano, worksheet & resources provided by the Earth & Solar System group, University of Manchester

  • 'Effusive Eruptions' (ages 7-11) - create an effusive volcanic eruption, a type of eruption where gas escapes slowly, worksheet & resources provided by the Earth & Solar System group, University of Manchester

  • 'Explosive Eruptions' (ages 7-11) - create an explosive volcanic eruption, a type of eruption where gas cannot escape the magma, worksheet & resources provided by the Earth & Solar System group, University of Manchester

Downloadable Resources

  • Sketchfab has a range of downloadble 3D models suitable for digital devices and/or 3D printing, including geological models and fossils, many of which are scientific specimens made available by museums to the public

  • Virtual Fossils is a NERC-funded project that hosts real scientific models of extinct species, ready to be explored in 3D from the comfort of your own home!

  • Fossil Explorers is an app developed and maintained by the Natural History Museum, that helps you to identify fossils based on where you find them, and works as a field guide to the common fossils of Britain.