Glaciers: Earth's Icy Sculptors and Climate Archives

Environmental Science Grades High School 11:12 Video
Print Lesson Plan Watch Video

Lesson Description

Explore the fascinating world of glaciers, their role in shaping landscapes, their influence on climate, and their significance as indicators of climate change.

Video Resource

What Are Glaciers? Crash Course Geography #26

CrashCourse

Duration: 11:12
Watch on YouTube

Key Concepts

  • Glacial Formation and Types
  • Glacial Erosion and Deposition
  • Glaciers and Climate Change
  • Glacial Landforms

Learning Objectives

  • Students will be able to define glaciers and differentiate between alpine and continental glaciers.
  • Students will be able to explain how glaciers shape landscapes through erosion and deposition.
  • Students will be able to analyze the relationship between glaciers and climate change, including the impact of melting glaciers on sea level and global climate patterns.
  • Students will be able to identify various glacial landforms, such as moraines, cirques, and U-shaped valleys.

Educator Instructions

  • Introduction (5 mins)
    Begin by engaging students with the opening remarks from the video, highlighting the presence of glacial landscapes even in seemingly unlikely places like New York City. Briefly introduce the importance of glaciers as climate indicators.
  • Video Viewing (10 mins)
    Play the Crash Course Geography video 'What Are Glaciers?' (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkt-0ZuTKXU). Encourage students to take notes on key terms and concepts.
  • Glacial Formation and Types (10 mins)
    Discuss the process of glacier formation, emphasizing the role of snow accumulation, compaction, and the snowline. Explain the difference between alpine (mountain) and continental (ice sheet) glaciers. Use examples from the video, such as Greenland and Antarctica.
  • Glacial Erosion and Deposition (15 mins)
    Explain how glaciers erode and reshape landscapes through processes like plucking and abrasion. Discuss the different types of glacial deposits, including moraines and erratics. Use examples from the video like the Finger Lakes, Great Lakes, and Central Park. Explain terminal and lateral moraines and where they are formed. Refer to Central Park erratics and explain glacial till.
  • Glaciers and Climate Change (10 mins)
    Analyze the connection between glaciers and climate change. Discuss the impact of glacial melt on sea level rise and ocean circulation. Explain the concept of dynamic equilibrium and how warming climates cause glaciers to retreat. Discuss the Thwaites Glacier and its potential impact. Discuss the ice age and interglacial period.
  • Glacial Landforms (10 mins)
    Identify and describe various glacial landforms, such as cirques, arêtes, horns (pyramidal peaks), U-shaped valleys, and tarns. Use the Matterhorn example from the video to illustrate these features. Show images of glacial landforms from around the world.
  • Conclusion (5 mins)
    Summarize the key concepts covered in the lesson. Reiterate the importance of glaciers in understanding Earth's history and predicting future climate changes. Briefly introduce the next lesson on natural hazards, as mentioned in the video's outro.

Interactive Exercises

  • Glacier Mapping Activity
    Provide students with a map and ask them to identify regions with significant glacial coverage. They can research current glacial extents and compare them to historical data to visualize glacial retreat.
  • Create a Moraine
    Using sand, gravel, and small rocks, students can simulate glacial movement and create a moraine to demonstrate how these depositional features are formed. Use a tray and slowly drag the mixed material across the tray. The pile that forms at the end is the moraine.
  • Climate Change Argument
    Divide the class into 2 groups. One side argues that climate change is natural and doesn't require human intervention. The other side will argue why this is not the case. Be sure to use resources provided by academic peer-reviewed studies.

Discussion Questions

  • How would significant glacial melt affect coastal communities and ecosystems?
  • What are some strategies for mitigating the impact of climate change on glaciers?
  • In what ways do glaciers serve as 'frozen time capsules' of Earth's climatic history?
  • How does the high albedo of snow and ice affect global temperatures?
  • How have glaciers shaped the landscape of your region or a region you are familiar with?

Skills Developed

  • Critical Thinking
  • Data Analysis and Interpretation
  • Spatial Reasoning
  • Collaborative Discussion

Multiple Choice Questions

Question 1:

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of a glacier?

Correct Answer: Stationary and unchanging

Question 2:

What is the term for a glacier found in a mountain range?

Correct Answer: Alpine glacier

Question 3:

Approximately what percentage of Earth's land surface is currently covered by ice?

Correct Answer: 10%

Question 4:

If all the world's glaciers were to melt, approximately how much would sea levels rise?

Correct Answer: 70 meters

Question 5:

What is the term for the jumbled heap of gravel, sand, silt, and clay left behind by a retreating glacier?

Correct Answer: Terminal moraine

Question 6:

What is the name of the process where glaciers pluck blocks of rock from the landscape?

Correct Answer: Plucking

Question 7:

A sharp, serrated ridge formed when two adjacent cirques erode a mountain is called a(n):

Correct Answer: Arête

Question 8:

Small mountain lakes encased at the foot of a cirque are called:

Correct Answer: Tarns

Question 9:

What does it mean when a glacier is in dynamic equilibrium?

Correct Answer: The amount of new snow is approximately equal to how much is melting

Question 10:

The Thwaites Glacier is also known as:

Correct Answer: The Doomsday Glacier

Fill in the Blank Questions

Question 1:

A glacier is a large mass of ice that formed from compressed ____.

Correct Answer: snow

Question 2:

A continuous mass of unconfined ice bigger than 50,000 square kilometers is called a __________ glacier or ice sheet.

Correct Answer: continental

Question 3:

The lowest elevation where there’s ice and snow all year round is called the _________.

Correct Answer: snowline

Question 4:

Boulders that are far from where they would’ve originated and have different compositions from the surrounding rocks are called _________.

Correct Answer: erratics

Question 5:

A(n) _________ is an armchair-shaped hollow in the side of the mountain that is formed from glacial plucking.

Correct Answer: cirque

Question 6:

When the ice in two adjacent cirques eats away at the ridge between them, it forms a sharp, often serrated ridge called a(n) _________.

Correct Answer: arête

Question 7:

Deep vertical cracks that open up on the brittle ice on the surface as a response to stress are called _________.

Correct Answer: crevasses

Question 8:

Ridges along the side of the glacier are called a _________ moraine.

Correct Answer: lateral

Question 9:

A glacier moving through a valley will erode the walls and deepen and broaden the valley from a V-shape into a _________-shaped profile.

Correct Answer: U

Question 10:

The West Antarctic Ice Sheet which is also know as ___________ Glacier is weakening which could raise global sea levels.

Correct Answer: Thwaites

Educational Standards

EN.ESS2.2:[Standard] Analyze geoscience data to make the claim that one change to Earth’s surface can create feedbacks and interactions that cause changes to other Earth systems. EN.ESS3.1:[Standard] Construct an explanation based on evidence for how the availability of natural resources, occurrence of natural hazards, and changes in climate effect human activity. EN.ESS2.4:[Standard] Analyze and interpret data to explore how variations in the flow of energy into and out of Earth’s systems causes changes to the atmosphere and climate.

Teaching Materials

Download ready-to-use materials for this lesson:

Student Worksheet Classroom Slides Assessment Quiz
Add to Google Classroom

User Actions

Sign in to save this lesson plan to your favorites.

Sign In

Share This Lesson

Related Lesson Plans