Free Teaching Resources

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.

Dr. Meredith Kelly looks at geologic clues from the end of the last ice age for insight into how our current ice sheets may respond to the rapid warming of our planet. These videos are part of the U.S. Ice Drilling Program's School of Ice Virtual Field Lab series.

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).

Using tiny clues from the past to predict sea levels in our current climate reality.

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).

This lab is an engaging hands-on activity demonstrating that CO2 is a direct measurement while hydrogen isotopes are used as a proxy for temperature measurements. Through the study of ice cores, scientists have developed a continuous record of CO2 and temperature records going back 800,000 years. Requires freezer space and several days of freezing time.

Land Ice/Sea Ice/Grounded Ice: How does melting ice affect sea level?

By building a personal “life core,” students are introduced to some of the techniques and vocabulary used by scientists as they study ice cores.

Students’ primary task in this activity is to design a container that will keep an ice core from melting over time AND to do so while spending the least amount of "money."

Students explore how glaciers move by using “glacier goo/flubber,” (a polymer made with glue and Borax solution) whose properties model the movement of glacial ice. Through an open or guided inquiry, students make a hypothesis and then test their ideas.

Students observe a subglacial lake model and measure changes in temperature, salinity and sea level rise as the glaciers/ice sheets and subglacial lakes melt.. Students will move from the small model to discussions of implications for Earth systems.

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