Free Teaching Resources

Students study the effect of changing temperatures on gas solubility. Students then apply this knowledge to estimate the temperature of the ocean millions of years ago using nobel gas concentrations pulled from COLDEX ice samples from Antarctica.

This activity is offered as a means of introducing students to the Scientific and Engineering Practices, as outlined in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

Students play a game of cards to learn how scientists study nature.

Students will measure the albedo and surface temperature of various ice mixtures and the changing properties as the ice melts over time. Students will move from understanding what albedo is, to the larger scale of its role in Earth's energy budget.

In this investigation, we will analyze how the density of the ocean surrounding Greenland may change as a result of increasing amounts of meltwater coming off the Greenland Ice Sheet.

In this lab, the relative amount of CO2 in melted "ice core samples" will be determined using a conductivity meter. Then students will graph their results and compare to the 800,000 ice core record.

Data from ice cores suggest that sometimes the Earth has undergone rapid changes in climate in as little as a decade. One possible way that this type of rapid change may happen in the future is if we change the way deep ocean currents flow in the Atlantic Ocean.

In this lab we will use 5-pennies to model water molecules sampled from each of 11 different “ice core layers” dating from the present to almost 500,000 years ago. The goal is to determine the temperature of climate in the past by comparing the average isotopic mass of the water molecules in the ice cores […]

Going to the “ends of the Earth” takes you to the Arctic and the Antarctic. This activity engages students in sorting picture cards comparing similarities and differences between the Polar Regions in a table-sized Venn Diagram.

Two-part lab Lab: #1--direct measurements are used to compare the history recorded in an ice core to the history recorded in a tree ring. Lab #2--proxy models will be developed from direct measurements to be used to reveal climate conditions thousands of years in the past.

Ideas for how to get students to reflect on a lesson or unit of study.

This activity is offered as a means of introducing students to the Scientific and Engineering Practices, as outlined in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).