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
3 Glacial evidence
Activities:
1 How glaciers shape land-1
2 How glaciers shape land-2
3 North American glaciation
4 Fossil evidence
5 Impacts of topography
6 Impacts on ecosystems
Online resources
Student Web Page
Teaching Boxes Home
Lesson 3: Glacial Evidence

Activity 3

North American Glaciation

Materials / Preparation

  • Computers with Internet access, QuickTime, and an LCD projector
    Colored pencils or markers
    Classroom map or globe
  • For each student, provide a copy of
    • the worksheet at Coming of the Ice!
    • the blank map of North America: Countries

Grouping

Students may work on this activity in groups of two around a single computer.

Teacher tips

This activity will require two 50-minute classes.

Students may need to watch the movies in this lesson several times. Students can slow them down by clicking through them rather than running them.

Note that while using the Paleomap Project site on day two, students will need to use the “Back” button on their browsers to go between the “Miocene”, “Eocene”, and “Last Ice Age”.

Students will be using several websites, all of which can be accessed directly from the Global Ups and Downs Student Web Page.

Procedure

DAY 1

  1. Review the glacier signatures discussed yesterday. Tell students that scientists have found these same signatures in various places, which confirms the hypothesis that much of North America was at one time covered by ice sheets.
  2. Show students the animation of the Laurentide Ice Sheet to model how the most recent ice age proceeded. It is best to drag the button slowly so that students can see the changes in the extent of the ice sheet from 18 thousand to 8 thousand years ago (kya). Note: This site can be accessed directly from the Global Ups and Downs Student Web Page.
    a. Ask them to describe what is happening, and what other changes might be occurring that would be causing these changes.
    b. Ask students to hypothesize what they think happened to sea level as a result of the melting of Laurentide Ice Sheet. Elicit responses of “sea level would rise” and then tell students that they will be testing this hypothesis.
  3. Give each student a copy of the printed worksheet from Coming of the Ice!
    a. Point out on a classroom map or globe the location shown in the movie clip they will be watching.
    b. Show the movie clip A Changing Ice Sheet which can be accessed directly from the Global Ups and Downs Student Web Page. Show the movie several times if necessary. Again, slowly drag the button so that students can see the changes in the extent of the ice sheet and the accompanying changes in sea level.
    c. Ask students to complete the worksheet questions directly on the page or in their notebooks.
    d. Discuss the answers to the worksheet questions as a class.

DAY 2

  1. Tell students that they are going to be looking at models of changes in continental ice and sea level further back in geologic time.
  2. Give each student a copy of the blank map, North America: Countries on which they will be drawing sea level changes.
  3. Ask students to go to the Paleomap Project and compare the sea level and ice cover for the “Eocene”, “Miocene”, and “Last Ice Age.” Note: This site can be accessed directly from the Global Ups and Downs Student Web Page.
    a. Students should trace the shorelines and ice cover for each time period on their map.
    b. Have students label their maps.
  4. Ask students to record in their notebooks what they have found.
  5. Discuss as a class. Review with students that over the past few days they have discovered evidence that continental ice was present at one time and has now melted.
    a. Ask students to briefly discuss what that evidence is. Then ask them “What do we think happened when that ice melted?”
    b. Following the suggestion of sea level rise, ask “What would we look for that would support our hypothesis that sea level rose and where would we look?” Record their answers and responses on the board or a poster, and tell them that the next lesson will explore their suggestions.

Assessment

The homework below can serve as a summative assessment, while questioning and worksheets can serve as formative assessments.

Homework

Students will write a summary in their notebooks of what they have learned throughout the unit so far. This summary will help them to review what they have learned and can be used as a reference during their culminating project.

Resources used

Coming of the Ice!
http://www.teachingboxes.org/catalog.jsp?id=DLESE-000-000-007-769

North America: Countries
http://www.teachingboxes.org/catalog.jsp?id=TBOXR-000-000-000-100

Paleomap Project
http://www.teachingboxes.org/catalog.jsp?id=DLESE-000-000-008-850

Laurentide Ice Sheet movie clip
http://www.teachingboxes.org/catalog.jsp?id=TBOXR-000-000-000-101

A Changing Ice Sheet
http://www.teachingboxes.org/catalog.jsp?id=DLESE-000-000-008-852