On Friday March 31, I returned to the Environmental Magnet School to teach my second workshop. For this workshop, I was in the same classroom I had taught in before, but the group of 7th graders I was working with was different. There were only 16 in this group of 7th graders. This workshop was planned based on the students previous lesson on water cycles (ESS2-4). This lesson does not cover an entire water cycle, it only demonstrates one part of a cycle.
Guiding Question: How does polar melt affect rising sea levels?
Student Learning Objectives:
Students will be able to infer and explain what could happen to the Earth’s systems (sea levels) if the polar ice caps continue to melt. This activity allows students to observe how the melting of the ice caps lead to rising sea levels and how water changes and cycles through Earth’s systems. The goal of the activity is to fit into NGSS-ESS2-4 standards for Earths Systems.This lesson will be connected to the NGSS standards by analyzing one phase of a water cycle. the once phase of a water cycle that will be analyzed is the melting of polar ice, and how it is cycled into the ocean and leading to rising sea levels.
Materials:
- 6 Clear plastic containers filled with water (2 containers per group)
- 3 “glaciers” (a frozen water blocks)
- Ice cubes (to be the icebergs)
Learning Activity:
- Launch
While the previous class was packing up and heading to their next class, Ms. Beardsley and I arranged the classroom into 3 groups for the activity. The room was separated into 3 groups of about 4-5 students. While the class I would be working with was getting settled, I filled up 2 clear plastic containers with water and began to take the glaciers (a block of frozen ice) out of their bags. Once I had the activity set up, I launched the lesson. I introduced myself to the new group of 7th graders and then introduced the activity we would be working on that day. I mentioned that I knew that they had just finished their unit on water cycles, and explained how our activity would be focusing on one part of a cycle. Next, I asked the group if they could explain the difference between an iceberg and a glacier. Once they demonstrated their understanding of icebergs and glaciers we were ready to begin the activity!
2. Introduction to the activity and materials
At each group, I had placed two containers filled about an inch with water. Once the students were settled and I had finished my introduction, I gave each group a glacier (large piece of frozen water) in one container, and icebergs (ice cubes) in another. Glaciers are large pieces of ice in the ocean, and icebergs are the smaller pieces that have broken off of glaciers. Using two different forms of ice helped demonstrate this. While the students were observing the ice I had just placed in their containers, I also passed out a worksheet I had created for the activity.
3. Initial measurements of the water level
After I had passed out the worksheets, I had each group mark both containers initial water level with a Sharpie. This beginning water level would be used later to observe how much the water level rose after the ice was left to melt. After each group marked their water level, I went around to each group and helped the measure their water level with a ruler. Once both containers were measured, each student wrote down the measurement on their worksheet. I then asked them to predict how much they believed the water level would rise, and which container they believed would melt faster (Iceberg or Glacier).
4. Looking at an interactive map
For the next part of the activity, I had each group set their containers aside so they could melt while they did another activity. I had 1 or 2 students in each group open their computer and go to “Costal.climatecentral” and open the “year” map. Before the students were allowed to explore the map on their own, I had them look at Hartford in 2050 and write down any areas they noticed would be affected by flooding and rising sea levels. Once they had taken notes on any observations, I let them explore other areas they were interested in in any year they wanted. I also had them answer the rest of the questions on the sheet based on what they were observing not only on the map, but also regarding rising sea levels in general.
5. Final water measurements
After about 10-15 mins of looking at the interactive map, I brought the class back together to take a second and final look at their containers. I went around again with the ruler and helped them measure their final water level for each container. They also wrote down anything that they noticed about the melting speed for each container, and why they thought one container melted faster than the other. At this point, the students developed a deeper understanding on polar melt by looking at the difference in water levels and where the water from the melting ice would be going, as observed on their maps.
6. Share out
For the remaining 2 minutes of class, I asked students if they wanted to share anything they observed in the activity. This allowed students to relate to one another on what they were seeing along with discuss if they gained a deeper understanding of polar melt from the activity.
Assessment:
The assessment of this lesson was recorded through a worksheet I had created for the lesson. On the pieces of paper, students recorded the starting level of the water and the ending level along with their predictions on which container would melt faster and their predictions. Students also wrote down their thoughts and predictions on how the melting of icebergs and glaciers would affect sea levels. I also walked around asking guiding questions like: The water from the melted ice does not stay in one place, where do you think the water goes? I also had the students record their observations on what they were seeing on the interactive maps.
Above, is a great example of observations that a student recorded on their worksheet. More specifically, the last question, not only did the student record the difference between melting speed, but they also noticed that a melting glacier would have a larger affect on rising sea levels.
While this worksheet is meant to guide students through the lesson, students were able to answer the guiding question by the end of the activity as demonstrated in the second question, “How do you think the change in water level would affect sea levels?”.
Below is in example of a worksheet that was turned in that did not directly answer the question that was asked. While this answer does not directly answer the question, the student found one of her favorite place in the Hartford area (Gilberts Wood-Fired Steaks) and decided to see when it would be affected by rising sea levels. While this was not the answer I was looking for, I am pleased to see that this student related the lesson and what she was learning to her life.
Equity:
This challenges inequity by engaging all students in the class in a relevant lesson that they might experience later in life. Rising sea levels is a current event and something that these students might experience more in their lifetime. This lesson is hands-on and every student should be able to participate and work together. This lesson engages students to learn about their environment (Hartford) and brings attention to environmental issues. Climate change is an on going issue, and this lesson shows the affect that it will have on the planet. The activity demonstrates rising sea levels and allows students to see the drastic affects it will have on the planet.
Sources:
- Interactive Coastal Map
- NGSS-ESS2-4 standards
- http://www.nextgenscience.org/pe/ms-ess2-4-earths-systems
- https://www.sciencebuddies.org/stem-activities/polar-ice-caps-melting?from=Blog
Reflection:
This lesson was a bit harder to teach than lesson one. While this class was smaller than the first (only 16 students), it was significantly harder to engage them in the lesson. A large majority of the students did not want to participate in the lesson. However, I tried my best to keep walking around and meeting with each group to make sure they were staying on task. One aspect that I realized during my lesson was making sure students were staying on task after introducing the part of the activity that required computers. I did catch a couple of students using their computers for other reasons, like shopping or playing games. Using computers is definitely something that I will not implement in lesson three. Instead of having one or two students in each group using computers, I think it would have been more beneficial for every student in the group to work on their computer. I think that this would limit distractions since students would be able to work independently instead of becoming distracted with their group members.
As for the main part of the lesson, I think that it went very well. Students seemed to have a lot of fun getting to measure the ice melting and seeing how much the water level changed. I think that using two very different kinds of ice was also important to demonstrate the difference between glaciers and icebergs and their melting speed. Creating a miniature version of polar melt for the students to see right in front of them was very fun and based on some of their worksheets, invoked a lot of thinking and learning based from their observations.
I think that lesson two was an improvement from lesson one. In lesson two, while this group tended to get distracted easily, I made sure I was walking around bringing students back into the activity. I did this by walking around and not only reminding students to stay on task, but also by asking guiding questions to encourage their thinking. One thing that I think can be improved for lesson three would be making smaller groups. I have noticed in the past two lessons that having larger groups for the activity means there is more room for students to get off task. This is definitely something I am going to keep in mind for my final workshop.