Greetings Earthling! That's one zargot of a cool lump of rock you and your kind are stationed on! Fancy exploring how it works and what it's made off? Good - Planet Science is here to help. We’ve put together some brilliant hands on activities, collected together some of the world's best web sites and plenty of information about the rocks, minerals and fossils that are right under your feet at this very moment! And if all this inspires you to be an earth scientist we've got the information. P.S. we've also put together some classroom resources for any Earthling Teachers who may be reading this. Ready? Get digging! Experiments... Water Down the Plughole To fit in with this year’s water theme why not take part in our international experiment - have you ever wondered why water spirals as it goes down the plug hole? And does it really go down the plug hole in opposite directions on opposite sides of the world? Click here to find out, and get hold of all the information you need to do the experiment with some fun facts, web and curriculum links. Help Help Volcano! We don’t have any active volcanoes in the UK but you can make your own with baking powder and vinegar. Stand back! This volcano will explode in your kitchen! Lava Flow! Create mini volcanic eruptions and build layers of lava using play dough! Activities... Earth Quake! To launch Science Year in September 2001 thousands of people took part in the Giant Jump by jumping at the same time across the county. This year, schools in Australia will be re-enacting the Giant Jump- and you can too. Click here for all the instructions, including how to do the Giant Jump, some fun earth science facts, and information about how to build your own seismometer. We’ve got 3 different designs for you to try on the day of your jump. These include a simple cardboard box and pen and a solenoid sensor- where vibrations cause a coil to move around a magnet, generating a voltage. The greater the voltage the greater the vibration detected- so what are you waiting for? Jump to it! Been Inspired? Do you enjoy working outdoors? Do you like travelling? Do you like puzzle solving? Then you may have what it takes to be an Earth Scientist! Why don’t you go to the NEXT STEPS section of our web site and check out what real earth scientists are up to in our Meet Your Match database?. You can also access more information on careers in Earth Science from the Official Earth Science Week website. Want to find out more? Official Earth Science Week website, with plenty of activities for the classroom based around this years theme- water! (the curriculum focus is North American, but this site contains some good universal activities) If you are interested in how volcanoes work or why earthquakes happen, How Stuff Works has all the information you could need. The BBC education site contains a series of fun geology activities to do at home or in the classroom, including Chocs Like Rocks, the Sedimentary Sandwich and Rock Cycle experiments The Earthlab Datasite is an accessible database containing info on over 2000 UK rocks, minerals and fossils. Links for teachers http://www.matter.org.uk/schools/content/Seismology/index.html Provides good lesson resources from the University of Liverpool’s MATTER Seismic Waves site http://www.ucl.ac.uk/geolsci Offers loads of earth sciences-related material for schools including downloadable activities, access to geology loan boxes, summer school programmes and a school questionnaire. http://www.esta-uk.org The UK’s Earth Science Teachers Association website Go back