Whales and Sea Ice: Investigating Insulation

Students study sea ice and its importance in climate and climate change. They discuss sea ice as a presence of a food source for marine animals in the arctic and complete a lab activity. After completing the lab, they watch a video...

Many arctic mammals, such as polar bears, seals, and walruses, depend on the sea ice about 3 m thick for their habitat. Pupils investigate the properties of polar water and polar ice and their properties through readings, videos, and...

Students discover that a layer of fat just under the skin is highly adaptive for living in cold water. They coat one hand with vegetable shortening and dip the hand in the ice water. They explain that the layer of vegetable fat...

Does perfume really contain whale excrement? Only the most expensive varieties! An intriguing video lesson explains the origin of the ambergris ingredient through a tour through the sperm whale's digestive system. Scientists only...

Students graph sea ice data and predict long term trends in the data. In this climate change instructional activity, students use sea ice data from the Arctic and Antarctic to construct line graphs. They use their graphs to predict the...

Students conduct an experiment.  In this salinity lesson, students learn about sea ice, why it is important and how changing amounts can affect the sea.  Students conduct an experiment to find out the effects of salinity on the formation...

Ice is nice, and its condition on the planet has a significant effect. Junior geoscientists experiment with ice melting in both water and on land to discover how each affect the rising sea level. This detailed lesson outline even...

By 2100, it is projected that nearly all of the Arctic's sea ice will be lost. Explore this region and learn about the effects of global warming on our polar bears, ring seals, whales, and narwhals. What will happen to our arctic sea...

Students complete a worksheet while watching a film about whales. They examine the human impact on whale migration and identify adaptations the whale has acquired in able to survive. They discover how global warming has effected the...

Placing a thermometer and a glass tube into a flask of cold water and sealing it, you can expose it to heat and very visually demonstrate thermal expansion to your earth science class. Follow it with a discussion about how the increasing...