Global Ups & Downs: Changing Sea Level (6-12)
Overview of the box
Concepts and Standards
Lessons:
1 Consequences
of global warming
2 Experimenting
with ice melt
Activities:
1 Experiment design
2 Melting sea & continental ice
3 Glacial evidence
4 Fossil evidence
5 Impacts of topography
6 Impacts on ecosystems
Online resources
Student Web Page
Teaching Boxes Home
Lesson 2: Experimenting with Ice Melt

Activity 1

Experiment Design

Materials / Preparation

  • A list of materials that your students will use for designing their experiments is available on the worksheet at Sea Level Change - Melting Ice. You will need to add a metric ruler to the list of available materials. You can either provide a list for the students or list them on the board.

    Note that ice is required for this experiment. This may take some time to freeze before beginning the activity.

Grouping

Groups of two

Teacher tips

Teachers may want to read the text and take at look at the two hot linked simulations of sea ice and continental ice melt experiments at
Sea Level: Ice Volume Changes to get a good idea of what the student experiments should show.

Note that in the Sea Level Change – Melting Sea Ice, worksheets continental ice is referred to as sheet ice. You should discuss this with students to prevent confusion.

You will need to set aside time to go through the experiment designs and give suggestions to your students. If you prefer, you could have the entire class design the experiment and still have students work in groups to perform the experiment.

Procedures

  1. Begin the class by asking students to recall the previous discussion on the effects of global warming. Make sure they mention ice melt.
    a. Ask the class "Where do we find ice?" After eliciting the response of "on land and in the sea", ask them to predict what would happen if the sea ice melted and then to consider what would happen if the land (continental) ice melted. Students should write their predictions in their notebooks.
    Note: This provides a good opportunity to introduce writing If/then statements for predictions. If sea ice melted, then….. If continental ice melted…
    b. Record their responses on the board or on a poster.
    c. Ask students if they think the impact between the melting of sea ice and continental ice would be different or the same? If different, which would have the greater impact? They should write this down in their notebooks as a hypothesis.
    d. Inform students that they will be designing an experiment to test their hypotheses.
  2. Provide students with a list of available materials with which they will be able to design their experiments (materials should include those listed on the worksheets at Sea Level Change – Melting Sea Ice worksheets plus a metric ruler). Have each pair of students design an experiment and turn in a "Design Plan" that includes their hypothesis, required materials, steps for set-up of the experiment, a drawing of the design, and an explanation of the steps they will take to conduct the experiment. Remind students that they should be able to make measurements and that the experiments should be as controlled as possible.
    Note: The experiment designs can be stapled into student notebooks after being checked by the teacher.
  3. Students should use the rest of the period to design their experiments. Conclude by having a brief class discussion of what the groups’ ideas are for experiment designs and what each group's hypothesis is.

Homework

If their design plan is not completed by the end of class, ask students to complete this as homework.

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