all picks
Lovely Flash animation of the rock cycle; each section provides clickable links to further animations and information.
Cross curricular 'Invigorate' activity . Each resource contains background information and ideas for activities, broken into manageable sections that can mix and match.Some activities are designed for the classroom, others can be set as homework. Each section is accompanied by teacher's notes. Nice for learning more about scientists past and present too.
A cross-curricular 'Invigorate' set of activities, based on weather. Explore why Earth is hotter in summer,make a rain gauge, and a barometer to find out about air pressure and observe clouds.
A virtual experiment from the BBC to test properties of rocks. You could give pupils a table to complete using this resource
A fun activity to help children learn about rocks and soils. Test the properties of different rocks and take a quiz.
Revision information on rocks and soils. Includes and interactive activity and a quiz.
Very catchy and entertaining song and animation from 'They Might Be Giants: Here Comes Science'. Lyrics can found on the internet. Useful for discussion about how scientists find out about prehistoric life and use evidence/ clues, also about adaptations, e.g. how teeth types can help to identify an animal as a herbivore. Great fun that pupils always want to hear again.
Interactive site that covers how the sun, moon and Earth interact
A site that revises the Earth, Sun and Moon with activity and test.
An interactive activity to help children learn about the Earth, Sun and Moon.
Game that allows observation of the Earth and Moon motion. The first challenge is to set the months so that Earth completes one orbit of the sun, then pupils can see what happens in different time scales. Clicking on the labels and magnifying glasses gives more information about each body.
Activity to model fossilisation
Get pupils to play around with this interactive demo to see how the Earth moves around the Sun. Can they describe what is going on with the Moon?
Simple matching game but also contains information about the planets.
Information on the rock cycle from Oxford Museum of Natural History. Children can click on different stages of the cycle to read a description. Has a short test too.
Students can investigate different examples of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks and learn how they are formed. They can then specifically look at the how metamorphic rocks are formed from igneous or sedimentary ones. Then they are shown how all that they have learned fits together into the rock cycle. They can take a quiz at the end to test themselves.
A 'Triple Crossed' cross-curricular activity for teams of pupils to work through to evaluate evidence and form opinions whilst gaining background knowledge on Space milestones and the space race. Particularly good for 11-14 pupils or as extension/ interest at 8-11 age range.
The moon’s apparent shape changes in a predictable way. These changes may be explained by the moon’s motion relative to the earth and sun. An animated slide show followed by short test to check understanding.
A short clip on RI Channel that explains why Mars appears red, though in fact the surface does not look red in photos. Also links to changing materials