NASA
Melting Ice: Designing an Experiment
Sometimes, despite the best laid plans, the unexpected will occur. Learners witness this firsthand as they carefully design an experiment to determine the time needed for ice to melt in salt water or pure water. They uncover facts not...
Nevada Outdoor School
Let It Snow! Let It Melt!
Winter weather offers a great opportunity to teach young scientists about the states of matter. This activity-based lesson includes a range of learning experiences, from experimenting with the rate at which ice melts to singing a song...
Curated OER
Scientific Method Experiment: Factors Affecting How Ice Melts
Students demonstrate the scientific method by conducting an ice cube melting experiment. They make predictions and observations, and conclude what factors make ice melt more slowly or quickly than normal.
American Chemical Society
Changing State: Melting
Dry ice is extremely cold — it is -109.3°F or -78.5°C. Scholars observe and explain the molecular motion associated with melting. Then they design their own experiments to speed up the melting process. Finally, a teacher presents a...
Beyond Benign
The Big Melt: Arctic Ice Caps
Are the Arctic ice caps really melting out of existence? Junior climatologists examine the statistics of ice decline through four math-based lessons. Each activity incorporates data, climate information, and environmental impact into an...
Curated OER
Melting the Ice: Energy Transfer
Students study thermal energy and energy transfer to sea ice processes. In this energy transfer instructional activity, students make their own ice cream and discuss energy transfer and thermal energy. Students view a radiation overhead...
Discovery Education
It's Melting!
It's a race to the finish! Which ice cube will melt the fastest? Scholars discover the effect thermal energy has on melting ice. They experiment with melting ice cubes on different materials and learn that even at a consistent...
Curated OER
Real Ice Ages Longer Than Movie Ice Ages
If your class's knowledge of the Ice Age is limited to animated movies, use this lesson plan to strengthen their knowledge. After sharing what they know about the Ice Age, young readers explore a news article seeking to dispel...
Aquarium of the Pacific
States of Matter: Making Ice Cream
Who knew that learning about the states of matter could taste so sweet? This fun hands-on lesson captures the attention of learners as they use what they know about solids, liquids, and gases to create their very own batch of ice cream.
PBS
Climate Change as a Scientific Theory
Get your class thinking about climate change as a scientific theory. Guided by a handout, emerging earth scientists read articles and take notes about glaciers and sea ice. To conclude, they write an evaluation of the evidence for...
Curated OER
Melting Ice is Hot Stuff!
Fourth graders determine the amount of energy required to melt ice using a calorimeter. They calculate the Molar Heat of Fusion of Ice.
Polar Trec
Who Will Melt First?
If the Greenland ice sheet melted, sea levels would rise by about 20 ft; if the Antarctic ice sheet melted, sea levels would rise by 200 ft. Scholars explore ice melting through the analysis of different ice samples, clean and dirty ice....
Carnegie Mellon University
Introduction to Climate
Begin a full lesson on climate change by demonstrating how carbon dioxide gas contributes to increased temperatures. Be aware that pressure inside the antacid-containing bottle in Activity 2 may cause the lid to fly off; keep viewers at...
Curated OER
When Floating Ice Melts in the Sea
With this simple inquiry exercise young scientists observe the effects of melting ice on water level. Set up an easy experiment with floating ice cubes in a dish of water then have your pupils make and record their observations of the...
Curated OER
When Land Ice Melts
The Artctic and Antarctic Ice caps are the focus of this Earth science lesson. In reality, this is more of a demonstration than a lesson, but there is some rich discussion that happens before, during, and after the demonstration takes...
Polar Trec
Sea Ice Impact
The arctic seas contain currents that are both warm (with high salinity) and cold (relatively fresh water) that circulate throughout the year. Through discussion, a lab, and a web quest, participants explore the impacts of melting and...
Polar Trec
Ice Cores: Modeling Ice Sheets
Ice cores provide scientists with knowledge of historic melt layers, air temperatures, greenhouse gases, and climate stability. Scholars work in groups to build layers representing snow and ice over thousands of years. Then, groups...
NOAA
Where Have All the Glaciers Gone?
What happens when ice melts? Well ... water happens. When that melting ice is a glacier, the amount of water that results produces change throughout the world. Middle school science sleuths uncover the truth about global warming, the...
Polar Trec
Polar Detectives: Using Ice Core Data to Decode Past Climate Mysteries
How does examining an ice core tell us about weather? Learners set up and explore fake ice cores made of sugar, salt, and ash to represent historical snowfall and volcanic eruptions. From their setups, scholars determine what caused the...
Captain Planet Foundation
Solar Cooking Race
Study heat transfer with activities that focus on how heat energy works. Using a solar cooker, ice cubes, and heat transfer bracelets, kids experiment and record what they find by keeping ice cubes cold and vegetables hot.
Curated OER
Melting Ice
Students examine the various forms that ice can take. In this melting ice lesson plan students view videos on climate and global warming.
Curated OER
Volcanoes!: The Dangers of Snow and Ice
Students observe a demonstration of how melting snow and ice can contribute to mudflows. They then observea list of continents with the number of snow and ice covered mountains on each continent and discuss. They then label a group of...
Curated OER
Dry Ice: Simply Sublime
A fascinating instructional activity on states of matter is here for your young scientists. Dry ice is used to challenge learners preconceived notions about how solids work. They discover all sorts of interesting facts about states of...
Curated OER
Melting and Freezing Behavior
Students investigate melting and freezing behavior in substances. In this melting and freezing points lesson plan, students perform experiments to test the impact of various salts on the freezing point of water, they test the impact of...