Experimenting with Ice Melt

This lesson consists of two activities in which students explore the relationship between melting sea ice vs. melting continental ice and sea level rise. Students make a hypothesis about the differences between the impact of melting sea ice and continental ice. They then design and carry out an experiment to test their hypotheses.

Concepts and learning outcomes	Students will understand that: Sea level change is primarily the result of changes in the volume of water contained in continental ice sheets. Temperature fluctuations result in the formation and melting of ice sheets.
Time requirements	Two 50-minute classes
Vocabulary	continental ice, sea ice, glacier
Activities	1. Experiment Design: Students design and conduct their own experiments to determine the differences in sea level change between the melting of sea ice and continental ice. 2. Melting Sea and Continental Ice: Students conduct their experiments to test their hypotheses on the differences in sea level change between the melting of sea ice and continental ice.
Resources used	Sea Level Change - Melting Sea Ice http://www.teachingboxes.org/catalog.jsp?id=TBOXR-000-000-000-136 Sea Level: Ice Volume Changes http://www.teachingboxes.org/catalog.jsp?id=DLESE-000-000-008-849 Global Warming http://www.teachingboxes.org/catalog.jsp?id=DLESE-000-000-008-846

Experimenting with Ice Melt

Concepts and learning outcomes

Time requirements

Vocabulary

Activities

Resources used