Final conclusion and goodbye

Hopefully you have enjoyed learning about the geology that is all around us, and this short course has helped you to understand how many of the things we take for granted in our everyday lives originate from the Earth. Who knew that shopping centres, kitchen worktops and the inside of mobile phones had so much geology inside them? You do now! In the last video, Marcus sums up the topics of the course and what you have learned.

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Transcript: Video 4.4 Course summary

MARCUS BADGER:

Over the past four weeks, we’ve learnt how geology impacts everyday life. We’ve learned that almost everything we produce comes from the Earth, from the obvious things, like building stones, to more hidden geology, in things like plastic water bottles and fertilisers. You can tell the difference between igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks in the real world, and you know how they’re formed. We found out how we can exploit the processes that go on when new ocean crust is formed, when mountains are weathered, to make it easier for us to find the metals we need to make things like soda cans and cell phones.

We’ve discovered that the oil that powers our transport system came from geological processes that cooked ancient life from millions of years ago just the right amount. We’ve also learned that we might need to use some of those geological processes to remove some of the resulting CO₂ from the atmosphere.

More than all that, hopefully you’ve learned that the Earth is hugely important to everything we do and every aspect of our lives.

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Video 4.4 Course summary

If you have enjoyed this course and would like to explore similar topics, you can continue your learning on OpenLearn. You might be particularly interested in our courses on Science, Maths and Technology [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] .

You might also be interested in exploring this free resource on OpenLearn: Geology toolkit, which features a geology timeline, rock analyser, rock cycle, landscape features and safety tips.