Earthlearningidea: 15 years on and still going strong!

The EARTHLEARNINGIDEA (“ELI”) concept was born in 2007 following a failed bid by the International Geoscience Education Organisation (IGEO) to present Earth science teaching workshops, to teachers in developing countries during the 2008 International Year of Planet Earth (IYPE). Masterminded by the late Professor Chris King and two colleagues on a volunteer basis, the initial plan was to publish a new activity every week for the year on a specially designated website. Each activity presented an Earth science topic using an interactive, inquiry-based approach to educate and motivate pupils, whilst developing their thinking and investigative skills.

Originally designed to be a practical resource for teachers and teacher trainers all over the world, the activities use simple apparatus likely to be found in ordinary secondary (high) school science labs, whilst focusing on simple ideas. This proved to be extremely successful, and the project was extended when analysis of internet data showed that Earthlearningidea activities (ELIs) were being accessed most frequently in developed countries. There are now over 400 activities (based on the CASE model), many with accompanying teaching videos, general videos and extension ideas. All are FREE to download from https://www.earthlearningidea.com, with a new topic published every two weeks.

Since December 2008, over 6.1 million downloads of activities, videos and workshops have been made from all over the world and, with the help of international colleagues in geoscience education, many of the activities have been translated into 11 languages. The website is also supported by an Earth Learning Idea Blog which posts every Monday and, since its start, has reached most countries of the world and been accessed in over 12,500 towns and cities (http://earthlearningidea.blogspot.com).

This poster provides an insight to the background and an update on the Earthlearningidea project.  As such, it is designed to complement the GIFT 2023 workshop run by EGU Education Field Officers and to reflect the range of ELIs undertaken in their respective counties. It is also presented in fond memory of Professor Chris King who was the instigator and inspiration of this and so many other geoscience education projects in the UK and overseas.