Science Activities

Science activities and workshops for GCSE and ‘A’ Level science students are periodically organised by the Earth, Ocean and Ecological Sciences Department.

The main aim of recent workshops has been to take aspects of physics, chemistry and biology and show how they can be used to understand Earth materials and processes, how this helps understand the workings of our planet, and how Earth Sciences could let them use their science in an interesting and rewarding way.  As an example, topics covered in the workshop: “Pure sciences in the study of planet Earth” included:

• Fluid behaviour in the Earth.
• Breaking rocks and probing the Earth.
• Crystallization close up: from molten to solid rock.
• Molten rock and volcanic eruptions – this even included an outside experiment to model a volcanic explosion!

Earth Science activities for Year 11 students attending Summer Schools at Liverpool aim to give a flavour of some of the things Earth Scientists do.  Students are encouraged to work in groups and are given opportunities to apply their knowledge & skills to solve geological puzzles or work out solutions to problems.  Activities have included:

• Predicting the effects of a volcanic eruption on an island community and planning possible disaster relief.
• Learning how to be an ‘Earth Science’ detective to identify minerals in a set of samples that lost their labels after a museum was flooded.
• Solving a crime by using forensic samples that are geological materials.

If you would like to be included on our mailing list to be notified about the date and/or details of future Science activities and workshops, please contact Maggie Williams by clicking here.