The European Geosciences Union (EGU) supports bringing science into the classroom at all learning levels, from schools to universities. Since the Higher Education Teaching grant programme launched in 2020, EGU has funded 24 projects to develop useful and freely available geoscience resources to university educators. This blog is part of a series of blogs highlighting the innovative and accessible ...[Read More]
educational resources
A touch of space weather! An EGU funded outreach project for blind and visually impaired students
We can all probably agree that the Northern Lights are one of the world’s most spectacular natural displays. But how do we share this beauty with children who are blind? How do we explain the processes behind the aurora creation to the visually impaired when all the illustrations of Earth’s magnetosphere are in 2D? The Northern Lights are just one of the consequences of ‘space weather’. Space weat ...[Read More]
What is GIFT? The Education Committee’s Jean-Luc Berenguer & Phil Smith explain
EGU’s annual Geoscience Information For Teachers (GIFT) workshop will take place between 4 – 8 April 2022, with the theme of “How the planet shapes history – Geosciences, human society and civilizations”. To find out more about what GIFT is and get a taster for the workshop’s content EGU’s Programme Coordinator, Simon Clark, talked with two of the organisers: th ...[Read More]
Introducing INTEGRATE: a complete higher-education teaching package for climate science
If you are a higher-education instructor and want to teach climate science and a suite of relevant technical skills to those with no (or minimal) prior knowledge of climatology, you may want to begin with INTEGRATE (Integrated Teaching of Atmospheric Science, Technical Skills and Empirical Methods). This teaching package is self-contained, open-access, and available online. Topics covered include ...[Read More]
Discover geology with Lego!
Science communication is becoming a widely recognized skill for both established and budding geoscientists alike. Outreach activities are beneficial in many ways, as they not only showcase science to the general public, but also give scientists the chance to develop transferable skills. If you’re in the market for a creative geoscience activity, one that especially appeals to a younger audience, l ...[Read More]
GeoTalk: How an EGU Public Engagement Grant contributed to video lessons on earthquake education
Did you know that the EGU has a public engagement grant scheme which, annually, awards two EGU members with 1000€ to help them develop an outreach project? The 2018 call for applications is currently open. In this GeoTalk interview, Laura Roberts talks to Solmaz Mohadjer, a winner of the first EGU Public Engagement Grants competition in 2016. If you are considering applying, then read on for tips ...[Read More]
Malawi High School Teacher’s Workshop on Natural Hazards
In July 2017, Professor Bruce Malamud and Dr Faith Taylor from King’s College London travelled to Mzuzu, Malawi to work in collaboration with Mr James Kushe from Mzuzu University, Malawi. They delivered an EGU funded workshop at Mzuzu University to high school teachers on natural hazards, with major funding provided by EGU, and also supported by Urban ARK and Mzuzu University. Faith and Bruce expl ...[Read More]
GeoEd: A round-up of (geo)educational board games
With the rise of electronic games – those played on computers, consoles and even on mobile phones – you’d be forgiven for thinking the humble board game would be slowly making its way into the history books. Nothing could be further from the truth! Sales of board games are on the up, as are cafes where you can gather to play table-top games of your choice, and board game meet ups: regular gaming g ...[Read More]
GeoEd: Planet Press – geoscience news for children
Inspiring children to be interested in the geosciences isn’t always an easy task. While dinosaurs, volcanoes and earthquakes are a sure hook (rightly so!), there is also much more to the Earth, ocean and planetary sciences! Not only that, but new developments happen much more quickly than the lifetime of a textbook, meaning that breaking science is often underreported in the classroom. However, ...[Read More]
GeoEd: One example of how playing works in outreach activities!
This month’s GeoEd post is brought to you by Dr. Mirjam S. Glessmer. Mirjam, is a physical oceanographer and now works as Coordinator of Teaching Innovation at Hamburg University of Technology. Mirjam blogs about her “Adventures in Teaching and Oceanography” and tweets as @meermini. Get in touch if you are interested in talking about teaching and learning in the geosciences! In my last post, I tal ...[Read More]