James Hu on, the ‘Father of modern Geology’ had some phenomenal ideas but their ini al impact was

slight…..largely because of his poor wri ng skills. His three volume publica on explaining his theories

totalled over 2,000 pages making it a rather in mida ng read. Furthermore, his conclusions

were muddled in long sentences with overly‐complicated language.

As a result, Hu on’s work remained, for the dura on of his

life, somewhat inaccessible.

Time, which measures everything in our idea, and

is often deficient to our schemes, is to nature endless

and as nothing; it cannot limit that by which alone it

had existence; and as the natural course of time, which

to us seems infinite, cannot be bounded by

any operation that may have an end, the

progress of things upon this globe, that is,

the course of nature, cannot be limited by time, which must proceed in a

continual succession.

“

” James Hutton (1788)

Courtesy of NPG, London

In this pack you will find informa on and ac vi es to help your class improve their communica on and language skills through the musings

of the enigma c Charles Lyell.

Thinking Point 

It was not un l Charles Lyell

included Hu on’s ideas in his

book ‘Principles of Geology’

that their significance was

recognised. His book made

sense of Hu on’s complicated

language so that we can now

appreciate Hu on as the

‘Father of modern Geology’. www.dynamicearth.co.uk

These ac vi es have been designed to help your class understand the significance of the work of Charles Lyell as the ‘Great Communicator’. They also aim to help pupils develop their own communica on skills by using different ways to express thoughts

and ideas effec vely.

Using the examples at the end of the pack, get the class to work in pairs to iden fy the nursery rhyme tles that have been made overly complicated. Once this has been done why not get pupils to come up with their own complicated sentences based on a topic and get their partner to decode them? Topic ideas might include: • hobbies and interests • everyday life • story tles

Get your class to have a go at the ‘code cracker’ worksheet at the

back of this pack. As an extension, encourage pupils to make their

own code for others to crack. Rather than

numbers they may choose to use

symbols or clues.

Scien fic Pic onary Get the class to try and draw a well‐

known scien fic theory. The illustra on should make the theory

easy to understand without the use of words. This ac vity allows pupils to get crea ve and consider different

ways of communica ng ideas. Theories might include: evolu on, the

big bang, or ‘deep me’.

Presenter Skills Using the science facts at the back, focus

on how to make them sound exci ng using ‘voice dynamics’ and body language. Put the class in small groups and get them to work on one fact each. Read one in a flat, boring voice as an example of what

not to do. Aspects to think about include varying tone, drama c pauses, volume

changes and hand gestures.

www.dynamicearth.co.uk

Lyell’s geological conclusions were influenced by those of Hu on. Building on Hu on’s idea of ‘deep me,’ Lyell conclusively demonstrated that the Earth was indeed much older than was believed at the me. He argued that it was slow‐

moving processes that worked to shape the Earth – an argument that could not have stood without Hu on's new, extensive me‐scale! Furthermore, Lyell was

able to date the age of rocks by looking at the fossils hidden within.

Get the class to design a me line that illustrates the significance of Hu on’s ‘deep‐ me’ theory.

Start at the Earth’s forma on 4.6 billion years ago and work up to the present day, marking any significant events such as first life and when

humans first appeared. Now do a second me line that illustrates the me scale followed before

Hu on’s theory. As people believed that the Earth was only a few thousand years old and that things such as mountains and rivers were formed in sudden catastrophic events, this me‐line will be much shorter and all

marked events will be much closer together. A comparison of these me lines will show how significant Hu on’s theories are and will help

illustrate the enormity of me and the rela vely small role that humans have played.

“Consider the Earth’s history as the old measure of the English Yard, the distance from the King’s nose to the p of his outstretched hand. One stroke of a nail file on his middle finger erases human history.” John McPhee 1981 

Why not take your class outside to make a physical representa on of this me line? Use a tape measure in the playground to

start your me line, then ask pupils to stand at various points to represent key events. This should really help show how

massive the Earth’s me scale is!

www.dynamicearth.co.uk

Thinking Point 

A copy of Lyell’s book accompanied

Charles Darwin on his voyage upon

the Beagle. But why is this

significant?!

Hint: consider the ways in which

Hu on’s theory of deep‐ me may

have influenced Darwin's theory of

evolu on.

www.dynamicearth.co.uk

Use our ‘Characters of The Enlightenment’ card templates

and examples to profile the most famous people from this era of

Scotland’s history. This can easily be extended to include other

famous scien sts such as Charles Lyell.

Encourage your class to do a

bit of research on the work of Lyell and his theories. Ask the

pupils to present their findings. They may choose to do a poster, a presenta on or a PowerPoint. The idea is to consider different ways of

conveying informa on effec vely.

Lyell used some of Hu on’s theories to take his work further. This is one example of how ideas formed during the Sco sh Enlightenment have

shaped our modern understanding of the world around us.

This resource was developed in line with Social studies > People, place and environment;

Literacy and English > Listening and talking and Sciences > Topical Science.

..for the Timeline h p://bgs.ac.uk/discoveringGeology/ me/

meline/home.html?src=topNav h p://serc.carleton.edu/quantskills/ac vi es/TPGeoTime.html ...For the Enlightenment h p://www.educa onscotland.gov.uk/sco shenlightenment/index.asp ...For Charles Lyell and Geology h p://www.uamont.edu/facultyweb/edson/a_short_history_of_historical_ge.htm h ps://www.angus.gov.uk/history/features/people/lyell.htm

This pack has been made possible through funding from the Heritage Lottery. Scotland’s Time Lord Workshop: Learn how ‘Time Lords’ James Hutton and Arthur Holmes realised our planet was ancient. Create a geological formation out of play-dough, discover radioactivity and marvel at the enormity of geological time. The Tour: Through funding from Heritage Lottery, we celebrate one of the most influential Scottish thinkers of all time. James Hutton, the father of modern geology is brought to life in a £1million redevelopment to the beginning to the tour. Experience cutting edge technology and state of the art interactive displays before being transported hundreds of millions of years back through ‘deep time’ to the very beginning of our planet in our brand new ‘Time Machine’ Continuing your journey, you will fly across glaciers, feel the Earth move beneath your feet and experience the chill of polar ice. – All this before embarking on a 4DVENTURE across the globe and crash landing in a tropical rainforest. Throughout the year you will also witness spectacular 360 degree films in our ShowDome, the only one of it’s kind in Scotland. It’s the Mother Earth of all adventures.

Outdoor Learning: Discover the amazing and violent geological history of Scotland as told in the rocks of Arthur’s Seat with engaging tours led by our experienced education team.

A male and his female counterpart embarked on a journey on which they ascended a gradient.

A lady with a biblical name had a fleeced creature who had not yet developed into adulthood.

A number, greater than two but less than five, of visually‐impaired rodents.

There was once a mature person who inhabited a piece of a re one would normally wear on one’s feet

If Charles Darwin hadn’t read Charles Lyell’s book and realised that the Earth was really old, he might

not have come up with the theory of evolu on.

Many meteorites have not changed since the forma on of the Solar System. The oldest ones

found are 4.6 billion years old.

Planet Earth is around 4.6 billion years old. If you imagine scaling that down to 46 years humans only

evolved 6‐7 days ago.

If you drove at 60 mph through the planet, it would take you about 5 minutes to drive through the thin‐nest parts of the crust. It would take you 63 hours

to reach the centre.

The oldest rocks in Scotland were formed 2.8 billion years ago. That means they have been around for

over half the age of the Earth.

During the Sco sh Enlightenment, Edinburgh was a ‘hot‐bed of genius’ Many people believe that the

ideas and advancements made then are s ll shaping the world today.

1 C 3 4 5 6 7 V 9 10

11 12 S E 15 16 17 L P 20

H 22 23 24 O W 27 28 29 30

31 32 33 D 35 36 37 K 39 N

41 B 43 44 45 46 U 48 49 50

T X 53 54 55 F 57 58 59 60

61 62 Q 64 65 66 67 68 J 70

71 72 73 U 75 76 G 78 79 80

A 82 83 84 I M 87 88 R 90

Y 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 Z

Lyell would have found it difficult trying to untangle what Hu on was saying with all his complicated language. Can you, like Lyell, try and decode the sentences below?

1)  21, 47, 51, 51, 25, 40 _ 85, 13 _ 51, 21, 14 _ 56, 81, 51, 21, 14, 89 _ 25, 56 _ 86, 25, 34, 14, 89, 40 _ 77, 14, 25, 18, 25, 77, 91. Answer:   2) 18, 91, 14, 18, 18 _ 21, 14, 18, 19, 14, 34 _ 74, 13 _ 51, 25 _ 74, 40, 34, 14, 89, 13, 51, 81, 40, 34 _ 34, 14, 14, 19 _ 51, 85, 86, 14. Answer:  Now put your own sentence about Charles Lyell into code using the table above and get a friend to try and work it out. My Sentence:  

1726-1797 ‘Father of Modern Geology’.

Proposed that we are living on an ancient planet. Argued that granite and basalt were once molten and

that there is a ‘heat-engine’ in our planet which forms new rock.

James Hutton

Joseph Black

1723-1790 Chemist who discovered Carbon dioxide: he called it ‘fixed air’.

Demonstrated that hydrogen-filled balloons will rise up and taught Thermodynamics—the links between heat and energy.

Image from Education Scotland

Alison Rutherford

1714-1794 Poet and Songstress who

encouraged a young Walter Scott. She hosted parties for all the

scientists and artists in Edinburgh and was a very strong, independent woman..

Image from Education Scotland