Hello, scientists and geologists.

My name is Mr. Wilshire, and in this lesson, we are going to be looking at how geologists work.

Let's dig our way in to this lesson.

The outcome for our lesson today is to explain that geologists are scientists who use knowledge of rocks and soil to learn about Earth and other planets.

There are some key words for our lesson to learn today.

The first of which is geologist.

Next up is data, then observations, now, Moon rock, and finally, space agency.

Don't worry if you're not too sure what some of these words mean.

The definitions are coming up on the screen for you to have a look through.

You can pause the video here and have a little read just to recap and refresh your mind about what these different words mean.

Let's scrape the surface off of the first part of our lesson.

Geologists analysing rocks and soils.

Now, a geologist is a type of scientist, a scientist who studies what Earth and other planets are made from.

You can see a picture there of the geologist using a very bright light and a magnifying glass to have a look at the different types of rocks.

The prefix geo means earth.

So a geologist is a scientist who studies Earth.

Geologists carry out field work where they explore different places, collecting samples, which they often take back to a laboratory to study.

I wonder if you've ever gone digging in a garden somewhere or if you've gone digging down at the beach.

What kind of things have you found when you've been digging into the ground there? Well, geologists have to go and do that kind of thing all over the place in different areas and locations.

They'll study the type of soil that's there and they'll study the rocks that they find as well to give them a good idea as to what the Earth is made of.

Geologists have to go and carry out this field work in all these different places and study different areas of the Earth, like rivers and canyons, mountains and volcanoes, glaciers as well.

Have you ever been to any of these places? They look amazing, don't they? The rivers and canyons there with the icy blue waters and the red walls of the rock.

Now, I don't know about you, but where I live, there's no red rock like that.

You can see a great big mountain there, or is it a volcano, I'm not too sure.

There's a lot of snow on the top.

It looks very, very high as well.

I think it would take a very long time to get to the summit of that mountain, and you can see some glaciers there as well.

The glaciers constantly moving down the mountainside over time.

So, have a think here.

What do all of these features have in common? Pause the video and have a discussion.

Restart when you've done that.

Hopefully, you've had a good chance to discuss what these different features have in common.

Now, I don't know, but the first picture there is very red.

None of the other bits look red.

And the mountain there is very tall.

None of the other two are tall things, are they? Hmm.

Let's move on and find out.

Well, all of these features here in the landscape contain rocks, soils, and different types of minerals.

You can see some pictures there or some geologists collecting data.

The first picture is of a geologist with a great big tape measure, measuring the size of a rock.

It also looks like they're scraping something out of the rock there.

The second picture there is of a geologist digging some soil out of the ground and putting it into a pot, and then analysing the things that are inside the pot as well.

I wonder what kind of things that they find.

Geologists learn about how Earth was formed by observing different rocks and soils.

Sometimes they might need to dig into the ground to get it out.

Other times, like in the first picture there, you can see that they're analysing a great big rock, which is already above the ground.

I wonder how we got there.

Pause and think here.

True or false? Geologists study volcanoes, rivers, glaciers, and mountains.

Have a little think about the answer here.

Is this is true or false? The answer here is true.

I wonder if we can justify our answer here.

Why do we think this? Is it because geologists carry out work to analyse rocks and soils in various features of the landscape of Earth? Or is it because they look at images of rocks in different places, but never visit places where rocks and soils are found? Hmm.

Have a think.

Pause the video and restart when you've done that.

The way we can justify this answer is A, they carry out work to analyse rocks and soils in various features of the landscape of Earth.

They don't just look at pictures of them.

They actually need to go there and find those places.

How exciting.

So, geologists use the information they collect from data to help other scientists and people.

Now, here, you can see a picture of a geologist in a mine.

They've got their miner's helmet on there and their light, and a great big clipboard for taking notes.

They play a very important role in mining and oil, and gas exploration, by identifying the best places to locate these resources.

Of course, if you want to go mining for different resources, you need to know what's down there.

You can't just go digging a hole and hope for the best.

A geologist is going to have to do some studying and work out where the best places to go digging is.

The second picture here is of a volcano erupting.

Wow.

I can see a great big ash cloud there.

And some of it is going upwards, and others is spreading out and down around the volcano.

Well, geologists can help here by understanding more about volcanoes, and if they may erupt.

The type of geologist who would study volcanoes is called a volcanologist.

Geologists also need to help builders and engineers decide the best place to build new structures.

This can help to reduce flooding.

Of course.

Yeah.

You can't just build a building anywhere.

It would be no good building some houses in a place that's going to flood, unless you knew that there was some good land underneath all the soil to put your foundations for the house.

Then they'd need to work out how to protect those houses from a river or the sea from flooding.

You can see there some builders looking like they're on top of a very tall crane there.

Now the geologists will need to use all the data that they've collected to help preserve natural resources as well.

They can create conservation projects to protect animals and landscapes.

You can see a picture of a nature reserve there with a bird hide.

These are wonderful places to go to.

The bird hide is there, so people can hide inside with their binoculars, and they can spy on the different animals that go and use that area.

What a wonderful place to go.

Lots of animals will go there to seek shelter, to try and hide out in the winter, to go and find some food, or maybe they'll go there for mating.

Geologists will also use their observations of rocks and soils to help palaeontologists.

Palaeontologists need to try and understand how the world has changed over time.

You can see here fossils in a rock there.

I can see lots of different bone fragments and other things.

Sometimes these fossils are hidden deep inside the rocks, so a geologist will need to know what the best kind of rock to usually find these fossils inside is.

Geologists also have a very important role.

They need to protect our planet and resources from future generations.

You can't allow people to just keep going and digging things up all the time.

That might destabilise things.

I wonder if you know here, which other places do geologists study as well as planet Earth? Pause the video and have a think.

Restart when you've done that.

So, geologists are going to be needed to study other places as well, not just planet Earth.

Hmm.

There is a type of geologist called a planetary geologist, and where do you think that the rocks and soils that they study are from? Pause the video here and have a think.

Where is a planetary geologist going to get rocks and soils from? Planetary geologist is going to be interested in rocks and soils that come from space.

Here, you can see a picture of the surface of the Moon.

There are lots of craters there, and it looks very dusty as well.

I don't know if there's any soil to grow things on the Moon though.

A planetary geologist will need to help scientists that work in space agencies.

They can then help them to learn more about our solar system through the data that they collect.

So sometimes, just by reading the data and looking through telescopes isn't enough.

They're going to need the planetary geologist to tell them what they're looking at.

So, planetary geologists don't actually go into space.

However, they do study some samples of rocks and soils brought back to Earth by astronauts.

Now, here, you can see a picture of an astronaut who's landed on the Moon.

This was a long time ago.

We don't always get the chance to go into space in that way anymore and visit places like the Moon, but hopefully, there might be more scope for that in the future.

I know as well that there are lots of astronauts onboard the International Space Station and they orbit the planet as well.

Sometimes they might collect samples from things that they find, but a lot of the time, they are investigating and studying things that they find up there as well.

So, have a stop and think here.

Do you know what the Moon is made from? Pause the video and restart when you've done that.

Well, the Moon is made out of rock, which is studied by planetary geologists.

I don't think there's much soil there.

It does look very dusty though, doesn't it? Planetary geologists also study space rocks such as meteorites and asteroids.

This can help them to learn more about space.

The thing about space is that it's been around for a very, very long time, and planetary geologists are trying to study rocks and samples from all over the place.

Now, sometimes, asteroids and meteorites are able to give us little clues as to what life was like before humans were around, especially from distant areas of different parts of the solar system.

So, geologists here have been given Moon rock samples to observe and study back on Earth.

You can see a sample of Moon rock there.

Now, they're mainly greyish in colour, and they're very similar to a rock that's called basalt, which we find on Earth as well.

By studying these Moon rocks, geologists have learned more about how the Moon was formed billions of years ago.

Like I said before, long before any of us were around.

By learning about the Moon, space agencies can understand more about Earth and our place in the solar system.

Stop and think.

How do geologists learn more about rocks and soils from the Moon? Are they able to fly to the Moon? Do they study samples in a laboratory? Do they make it up based on rocks from Earth or do they observe images of rocks and soils? The answer here is B and D.

They study samples of Moon rock in the lab, and they observe images of rocks and soils from space agencies.

So here is your first task, geologists.

Take the role of a geologist who has been asked to visit a school and explain to children what they're career involved.

You will need to tell them all about these different things.

The different locations you may work, what materials that you have to observe, who you help by sharing the data, and how you can help them.

You need to write some of your notes down for your presentation using bullet points.

Have a little think about everything that we've just discussed.

How would you teach other people about your job? Best of luck.

Restart the video when you've done that.

So, your observations may have included something like this.

You could have worked in these locations like a space agency or a laboratory.

You could have observed Moon rock samples or images, and of the surface of the Moon.

You could have helped some space scientists to understand how the Moon was formed.

Or you may have included some information like this, like working on building sites, observing the types of soil on the ground where foundations of the buildings are going to go.

You could have helped engineers and builders decide how to make the soil permeable, that can then help it to prevent flooding when the houses are built.

I wonder if you had any different explanations.

The next part of our lesson is called geologists analysing remote data.

Now, geologists help other scientists learn more about space.

I wonder if you know the name of this planet, and what do you think it's made from? Pause the video and have a think.

Restart when you've done that.

This planet is Mars, and it is made from rock, a lot like our planet.

Now, Mars is 140 million miles away from Earth.

That would take a very long time to get there, wouldn't it? If we could travel to Mars, it would take several months to get there.

Wow.

Mars is an incredibly long way away.

Now, unfortunately, it's very difficult for us as humans to get to Mars.

There also isn't any water that we know of on Mars, so that we are not really able to keep ourselves alive when we get there.

Now that hasn't stopped different space agencies though, they are desperate to get there and study our closest planetary neighbour.

Stop and think.

True or false? Geologists only observe the properties of rocks and soils on planet Earth.

Yes, of course.

The answer here is false.

How can we justify this then? Is it because geologists also observe the properties of other materials? Or is it geologists also study the properties of rocks and soil on the Moon and Mars? The answer is B, isn't it? They don't just study things like plastic.

No, geologists also study the properties of rocks and soil on the Moon and Mars.

So, although spaceships have travelled to Mars, no humans have actually visited there yet.

Planetary geologists study photographs and data that they've collected about Mars back on Earth.

They make their observations about the properties of the surface and the rocks that they find on Mars.

Here, you can see a picture of a satellite there flying over the top of Mars, taking lots of photos and taking down different bits of data.

So, how do you think that they collect this data then from distant planets like Mars? Hmm.

You can't just do it all through a photograph, can you? Pause the video and have a think.

Restart when you've done that.

Now, space agencies have designed machines like satellites and rovers to travel to Mars, collect data, and take photographs, and do weather readings as well.

Here, you can see one example of the Mars rover.

Now, although this looks quite small, actually, these vehicles are incredibly big, and are just about the same size as a normal car that you would find in the street.

This data is collected and then sent digitally from Mars to Earth via radio signals.

Sending a robot to go and do your work is a lot better than sending a human, because a human's going to need a lot of food and water in able to survive.

Whereas a robot can keep doing its job and also recharge its batteries using great big solar panels.

Now, the Mars rover here can take anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours for a message from a Mars rover to arrive on Earth.

That's a very long time, isn't it? Can you imagine if you were in the data control centre and you were having to tell the robot what to do? It's a little bit like playing a video game, but you have to wait 30 minutes to see if your radio control message has actually got through.

That's a very long time.

So, geologists helped to test and develop the rover that was going to be sent to Mars.

This would help to ensure that it would collect useful data that they could study.

Here, you can see the rover being tested in the laboratory.

Look, you can see how big it is there as well.

There's a small little one there in front of it, and there's a much bigger one as well.

I think a whole person could fit on there and ride it.

The rover needed to navigate across the rocky, dusty surface of Mars without getting stuck.

So the geologist set up a large model landscape of Mars.

This was called the Mars yard.

It was set up in a building to make sure that the rover could collect rock and dust samples.

Now as the rock and dust samples can't be sent to Earth from Mars, the rovers were designed to collect data about the materials that they pick up.

You can see a moving image here of the rover on Mars.

Now the rover isn't moving, but as the planet is orbiting the Sun, the Sun looks like it's moving in the sky, doesn't it? This gives Mars a day and night, a lot like we get on Earth.

The sequence of images shows a rover filming, and it was sent back as digital data to geologists on Earth.

So, what do you think that this data would help geologists learn about Mars? Well, first of all, we know that the Sun does something very similar to what happens on Earth, but what else can it tell geologists? Pause and think here.

Restart when you've done that.

I wonder then.

Well, from this long distance data, geologists are able to observe the properties of the surface of Mars, which is covered with large rocks and dusty soil.

Here, you can see their curiosity rover on the surface of Mars, and has used a long pole there to take a selfie of itself.

The surface of Mars appears red in colour.

So using the data that they received, geologists have discovered that this is because the surface contains lots of rust, giving it its reddish colour.

So how do geologists in space agencies help other scientists to learn about Mars? Jun says, "Well, I think they went to Mars on a spaceship." Alex says, "I think they helped to test the Mars rover." Sofia says, "I think they observed long distance data sent from Mars." Who do you agree with? Pause the video, have a think, restart when you've done that.

I wonder who you agreed with.

Well, here, Sofia and Alex are correct.

They've helped to test the Mars rover and they can observe the long distance data sent from Mars.

However, Jun is a bit wrong there, isn't he? Unfortunately, no one has been to visit Mars yet.

So scientists working at space agencies make observations on data like the images of the surface of Mars.

Geologists look for evidence of water to find out if there is or if there has ever been any water on Mars.

You can see here an image showing gullies, which they believe have been created by water eroding the surface, just as it happens on Earth.

So they need to compare the images from Earth and Mars to see if there's any similarities.

You can see there, it looks like lots of little river systems there, but this is all water that has long since dried up from a long time ago.

Geologists looked at this data sent over long distances.

So what do you think they observe? Have a look at the two pictures there and decide, what are they able to observe here? Pause the video and have a think.

Here, the geologists can see mountains.

Here, they can see clouds.

So, long distance data helps geologists to learn more about places that they can't visit.

So we now know that Mars isn't just a big flat landscape.

There are actually hills and mountains, and lots of rocks scattered everywhere.

There are also clouds in the sky.

That's very similar to planet Earth, isn't it? It could mean that there are some parts of water still present on the surface of Mars, because where there are clouds, sometimes that means it could be raining.

I don't think they found any rain on Mars yet though.

True or false? Geologists can't learn anything about planets in space that they haven't visited.

The answer here is false.

So let's justify our answer.

Is it because they don't need to visit other planets because the rocks are just the same? Or is it because they don't need to visit other planets because they can observe these data collected from long distances? The answer is B.

Geologists don't need to visit other planets to learn about rocks as they can observe the data collected from a long distance.

So here's the final task of the lesson.

You are going to take on the role of a planetary geologist.

Observe the images of the surface of Mars on the next few slides and talk to your partner.

Try to identify which image shows what, volcanoes, craters, dry riverbeds, and polar ice caps.

You can pause the video here if you'd like and take down some notes so you know what you're looking for.

Okay, everyone, keen eyes on.

Let's go looking.

Wow, look at those images there of the surface of Mars.

Make your observations.

What does this show? Here are the next two.

Make some more observations.

What can you see of these pictures? Wow, they were some incredible pictures from the surface of Mars.

Here's some things that you may have observed.

In the first picture, there were lots of craters in the ground, weren't there? Looks like Mars has been hit by lots of different asteroids and meteorites.

Here, you can see a volcano on Mars.

This is a huge, great mountain.

It's called Olympus Mons.

Here, you can see some polar ice caps.

That means that there is snow and ice on Mars.

Hmm, how interesting.

And here is an example of a very dry riverbed.

Now, as we know, water can cut all the way through the land over billions of years.

So this is an example here that maybe there was some water at one point flowing through this landscape.

So let's summarise our lesson.

Geologists study volcanoes, rivers, glaciers, rocks, and mountains.

They can work in places like space agencies to observe properties of rocks and soils collected from the Moon.

Geologists have to use data collected from a long distance to make their observations.

They can make their observations of planets including Mars.

Here, you can see a geologist on a lava field.

Oh my goodness, how dangerous.

I hope they're being careful.

Now, hopefully this lesson has inspired you to be a little bit more interested in the rocks and soils that you find around you.

You could be a future volcanologist or maybe you are going to observe some rocks in space.

Who knows? You could be the first ever geologist to go to a different planet.

Whatever you get up to, the best of luck scraping and digging the surface.

I'm your Mr. Wilshire.

Thank you very much for listening.