teaching - Earth Science Teachers' Association

TEACHING EARTH SCIENCES ● Volume 31 ● Number 4, 2006
Blakeney Esker
ANNA JARROW
Blakeney Esker, on the north Norfolk coast, provides a fascinating glimpse into the region’s glacial
past. With an aim of improving the public’s understanding of the esker and the local landscape, the
British Geological Survey (BGS), Norfolk County Council, and Murray Gray of Queen Mary, University
of London, have collaborated to produce a website for teachers and the general public. The website
(www.bgs.ac.uk/blakeney) provides editable and printable teaching aids aimed at the A level
Geography syllabuses, and supporting Microsoft PowerPoint presentations.
The esker:
BGS is currently mapping the geology of north Norfolk,
a region that has been shaped by glacial
processes. Glacial-interglacial cycles have controlled
the Earth’s climate during the last 800,000 years.
Norfolk has therefore experienced alternating periods
of cold and warm environments during this time,
each with differing landscapes, ecosystems and
deposits. Ice sheets have advanced into the region
during the cold periods, on at least five occasions,
each depositing fresh material. The esker (Figure 1) is
a meandering ridge of sand and gravel that started life
as a tunnel beneath one of these glaciers. A river of
water flowed through this, carrying large amounts of
sediment, which were gradually deposited and eventually
filled the tunnel. Although the glaciers have
long since retreated, the esker remains as a prominent
ridge on the coastal landscape, 3.5km long and up to
30m high, near the village of Blakeney. During the
last hundred years, sand and gravel extraction from
the esker has produced some useful exposures, providing
further information about how the esker
formed. The route of the esker is now highlighted on
the landscape by the gorse that covers the ridge,
attracted by its well drained sandy soil.
The teaching aids:
The first stage of this collaborative project, which
started in November 2005, was a consultation phase
with local school teachers. Following this, it was clear
that teachers required not only teaching aids on the
esker’s formation, but also the bigger picture of climate
change, the geology of the region, and how glacial features
such as the Cromer Ridge, a glacial moraine, are
related to Blakeney Esker. All teachers agree that field
visits are the best way to learn, but for various reasons
such as inclement weather, finance or health & safety
issues, they aren’t always possible.
Based on this feedback, the Blakeney Esker
Explored website (Figure 2) has been developed to
provide free downloadable teaching aids to support A
level Geography classroom teaching. Topics covered
are Climate Change & Norfolk, Esker Formation,
Biodiversity on the Esker and Eskers & Man. The
teaching aids have been provided in three formats to
IMAGES © BGS – NERC
improve accessibility and give teachers the freedom to
modify them for their syllabus or Key Stage. They
cover diverse subjects and can be used for teaching
both human and physical geography, A level Geology
and Environmental Science. They are provided in
Microsoft Word and PowerPoint, and Adobe PDF
(Figure 3). The Microsoft Word documents are
editable, but the PDF documents have a smaller file
size. The Microsoft PowerPoint presentations have
been written to support classroom teaching using the
printable documents.
Continued on page 16
Figure 1
Blakeney Esker
Figure 2
The Blakeney
Esker Explored
homepage
15 www.esta-uk.org