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Rocks
Learn about deposition of rocks
Rocky's free ride in the river can't continue forever. Eventually, rocks are "deposited"; the first step in forming new layers of rock.
Find out more about deposition by following the link below.
Using your science to explore the climate history of Mars
Mars today is colder than Antarctica and drier than the Sahara — but scratch just beneath its dusty red coating and tales of a different planet emerge. The young Mars of three billion years ago was an Earth-like place of rain, rivers, and perhaps even oceans. Though long-gone, the rocks remember. In the lab, and through a simple understanding...
Information on what the Oxford University Museum of Natural History can offer to schools and teachers of KS4
The Oxford University Museum of Natural History provides lots of activities appropriate for Key Stage 4 students and teachers. From online image galleries and quizzes to regular educational sessions in the museum, there...
Brian Sheil
My interest in underground construction stems from my long-standing fascination with civil engineering ‘mega projects’ such as Crossrail and the Thames Tideway Tunnel, to take recent examples. I studied Civil Engineering for my undergraduate degree at the National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG). In 2014 I joined University of Oxford as a...
Download a sorting minerals activity
Minerals come in all shapes and sizes - take a look at this worksheet from the Oxford University Museum of Natural History and see what you think of these!
Information on what the Oxford University Museum of Natural History can offer to schools and teachers of AS and A levels
The Oxford University Museum of Natural History provides lots of activities appropriate for Key Stage 5 students and teachers. From regular educational sessions in the museum to summer placements, there are some...
Learn about metamorphism of rocks
Not all rocks remain sedimentary forever! Under extremes of heat and pressure, such as those found deep under the earth's crust or in volcanoes, the minerals in the rock can often change.
It is this process of metamorphosis that produces many of the more beautiful and rare crystals that you can learn about over on the mineral pages for...
What's under Lapland?
We know it as the home of Father Christmas, but why is Lapland of interest to geologists?
In this festive episode of the Big Questions podcast we ask Anna Bidgood from the University of Oxford's Department of Earth Sciences "What's under Lapland?". Join us as we find out why the minerals found in the region are important, and what it's...
Oxford University Museum of Natural History - For Students and Teachers
The Oxford University Museum of Natural History is dedicated to the development of online resources for a range of audiences, from Learning Zone for young children through to Learning More for older students and even researches.
Learn about the rock cycle on Earth
Although the journey of a rock like Rocky here might take millions of years, they undergo lots of different processes during that time.
Learning about the rock cycle, you can learn about weathering, erosion, deposition, cementation, metamorphism, melting, extrusion, crystallisation, and uplift: how all these processes occur and lead to...
