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GLEs Addressed:Science• [9]SA1.1Thestudentdemonstratesanunderstandingoftheprocessesofsciencebyaskingquestions,predicting,observing,describing,measuring,classifying,makinggeneralizations,inferring, and communicating.
Activity Procedure:1. Remind students that one result of global climate change is rising sea levels. Glacial melting contrib-
utes to rising sea levels, which impact coastal communities and ecosystems. As a class, explore the “ClimateChangeImpacts”Unit“ArcticRegionImpacts-Glaciers”sectionoftheGlobal Climate Inter-activeDVD.
2. Explain that scientists have been mapping and continue to map coastlines to study how sea levels riseorfall.Explainthemeltingofland-basedice,suchasglaciers(notseaice),iscausingsealevelstorise.Askstudentswhyseaicemeltingdoesnotimpactsealevels.
3. Explain that ice already in the ocean does not contribute to sea level rise because the ice displaces thesameamountofwateritwillcontributewhenitmelts.However,glaciersareformedonland.Whenglaciersbreakoffintotheoceantheydisplaceexistingwater(justasapersondisplaceswaterwhentheyenterabathtub),causingthewaterleveltorise.
5. Explainthatthefirsticecubesrepresentseaice;theyalreadyexistinthewater,sowhentheymeltthewaterleveldoesn’tchange.Thesecondsetoficecubesrepresentglaciers;astheycalveoffintothe ocean, they displace the water, causing sea levels to rise.
Critical Thinking Question: Wait Time Method.Informstudentsthattheywillbeaskedaquestionandgiventimetothinkabouttheiranswers;theywillnotbecalledonforanswersimmediately.Thewait time can be anywhere from 15 seconds to 5 minutes.Askstudentsifincreasedprecipitationaddstosealevelrise.Whyorwhynot?Whentheallottedtimeisupaskforashowofhandsorselectastudenttoanswer.(Precipitation is part of the water cycle. As water evaporates from oceans and rises into the atmosphere, it cools, condenses, forms clouds, and eventually precipitates falling back to Earth as rain, snow, sleet, etc. Although in the short-term there is not complete balance in the cycle, water may evaporate from a lake and fall as snow on a glacier – ultimately the water that evaporates from the oceans will return to the oceans. Thus, sea levels will not rise as a result of precipitation.)
6. Dividestudents intopairsanddistribute theSTUDENT INFORMATIONSHEET: “SeaLevelMap-ping.”Cutpotatoesinhalf,anddistributealongwithaclearplastictubwithclearplasticlid,marker,ruler, dyed water, and half a potato to each pair.
7. Guide students through the activity, providing assistance as needed.
8. Whenstudentsaredonewiththemappingexercise,distributeapairofscissors,tape,andawhitesheetofpapertoeachgroup.Askgroupstocutoutawhitecircleandtapeittothebackofthecon-tainerlidtoincreasevisibilityoftheshoreline(contourlines).Asaclass,comparestudents’mapsanddiscuss how they compare and contrast.
9. ShowOVERHEAD:“MapofShishmaref.”Explain topographicalmapsshowtheelevation,orhowhigh up, geographical features are. Each line on the map represents a change in height, the closer togetherthelines,thesteeperthelandatthatparticularlocation.Thesolidlinesonthismapmark50feet of elevation, the dashed lines represent 25 feet of elevation.
10. Explain that in the sea level mapping activity, students created topographical maps of their potato. Scientists can use satellite images and topographical maps to estimate how far inland ocean water will travel if sea levels rise. For example, the steeper the coastline the less inland the sea will travel. However,ashallowcoastlinewillresultinmoreinlandflooding.
11. Askstudentswhatwillhappenifthesealevelrises25feet.Explaintheareasalongthecoastthatareless than 25 feet would be covered in water.
12. Asaclass,usethemap’sscaletodeterminehowfarinlandtheoceanwouldinundate(covertheland)ataparticularpointifitweretorise25feet.Todothis,pickaspotonthecoastandusearulertomeasure the distance from the edge of the coast to the 25-foot contour line. Use the scale on the map to convert the measurement to an actual geographical distance.
13. Explain scientists project a rise of up to 3 feet during this century. Even this small amount can have a large impact on coastal geography.
Teacher’s Note: The Global ClimateInteractiveDVDcanbeshownonamultimediaprojectorforthewholeclasstoview.Toincreasestudentinterest,useawirelessmousetoallowstudentstotaketurnsusinginteractivefeaturesoftheDVD.
14. Explainwhilefloodingisaconcern,soiscoastalerosion.Aswaterlevelsrise,protectiveseaicedi-minishes and storms increase. Coastal erosion will also increase, resulting in building infrastructure damage, road damage, and damage to the coastal ecosystem, such as birds that nest on the shore.