Ice Caps: Physical Changes Lesson

Positive

• Students work collaboratively in groups and with partners to share diverse ideas and perspectives.

• Students participate in hands-on learning to aid in understanding and participation.

• Students learn through a variety of pathways including kinesthetic, auditory, visual, etc. to engage with different learning.

• Students are given a variety of optional extensions to create the most meaningful change in their communities.

Additional Prerequisites

• It is recommended that teachers use this as a multi-day lesson in 5 parts. Use the Multi-Day Schedule Visual to determine appropriate stopping points for each day.

• Materials needed for the Physical Change Activity include the following:

• Ice

• Cup

• Playdough (one container per group)

• Different shaped cookie cutters (two per group)

• Materials needed for each group for the Investigate section experiment include the following:

• Two identical, clear, plastic containers (e.g., 6x6 inches)

• Clay, playdough, or small rocks

• Tray of ice cubes

• Ruler

• Cold water

• Piece of paper

• Permanent marker (optional)

• Materials may be substituted as necessary

• Students must create free accounts on the CK-12 website to participate in the simulations.

Differentiation

• All activities, experiments, and simulations can be completed in differentiated groups or as demonstrations at the discretion of the teacher.

• The article may be read aloud in groups or as a class to aid in understanding at the discretion of the teacher.

• Student Document questions may be completed individually, in mixed ability groups, or as a whole group led by the teacher.

• Videos may be paused and discussed in short segments.

• As noted in the TED video, the economic influences on climate change cannot be ignored. An extension to this lesson may be to include a social studies educator to teach students about the local economic elements and issues that contribute to climate change.