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Blue Floats Away (Melting Polar Ice Caps)

SUBJECTS Math, Science
GRADE LEVEL Primary (K-3) / Junior (4-6)
PLEDGE 1 - Protection of Water

Resources Needed:

  1. Blue Floats Away by Travis Jonker
  2. Two Icebergs (made by freezing water in bowls), some small toy polar animals, stones, ruler, water and a large container to place items in to conduct experiment
  3. Melting Polar Ice Caps Experiment by Science Sparks for full visual instructions.

Introduction:

  1. Read, Blue Floats Away, following Blue Floats Away (Introduction) using discussion questions.
  2. Review or introduce the term ‘climate change.’ Explained in child friendly language by Science Sparks in the Melting Polar Ice Caps Experiment.

Lesson:

  1. Tell the students that they are now going to do an experiment to see how melting ice caps affect water levels and in turn contribute to climate change.
  2. Begin by placing the ‘large’ icebergs into the container with the animals divided  between them. Place stones in a pile at the side to represent land. Add enough water to the container to cover the bottom with a depth of no more than 1cm.
  3. Have students make predictions about what what they think will happen in the experiment.
  4. Have students record the water depth, using a ruler, at the beginning of the experiment and then again every 20 minutes until all ice has melted. Full instructions are laid out in the Melting Polar Ice Caps Experiment by Science Sparks.

Follow Up Activities:

Discuss what the students noticed (i.e., as the ice melted there was less space for the animals and how the water level climbed up on the land) and what ramifications this might have in the future.

 

BlueFloatsAway_LessonPlanBSN
Images are from  Melting Polar Ice Caps Experiment by Science Sparks
https://www.science-sparks.com/melting-polar-ice-caps/