FINAL PROJECT...EXPLORE ALASKA!

ESSENTIAL QUESTION FOR FINAL PROJECT...

How can digital resources and effective teaching methods be used to integrate Alaska Native ways of knowing and Western scientific methods in order to create greater understanding of, and interest in, geosciences for students?

• Below is a lesson created to introduce and develop the concept of glaciers, along with an understanding of the effects they have or had on not only our physical earth, but some of it's effects on humanity. It is intended for a 9-10 grade level earth science or geology course. More specific goals are found in the objectives portion of the lesson...
  
  How Do Glaciers Effect the Earth’s Surface?
  

Objectives:

• Students will learn what glaciers are, characteristics of a glacial valley and the glacier life cycle.
• Students will develop an understanding of how glaciers form a glacial valley and their importance in fresh water provision to cultures below.
• Students will be able to determine if a valley is a river valley, glacial valley and/or possibly both.

Subject Area and Suggested Grade Level:

• Earth Science, Geology and Glaciation for grade levels 9-10

National Education Standards:

• Interactions among the solid earth, the oceans, the atmosphere, and organisms have resulted in the ongoing evolution of the earth system. We can observe some changes such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions on a human time scale, but many processes such as mountain building and plate movements take place over hundreds of millions of years.

Time Needed: two hours of class time, more if extensions are desired.

Background Information:

A foundational concept of Geology/Earth Science is how the earth’s crust is always changing due to weathering and erosion. An important part of this concept on parts of our earth’s continents is glaciation. The earth’s crust is being continually changed in valleys where glaciers presently exist. The changes that occur are only evidenced over a long period of time and/or after the glacier no longer exists. Many of Alaska’s and lower 48 states valleys are the remains of glacial activity during the last ice age. Students should know how to make observations which will give them evidence, and then be able to illustrate in order to visualize how glaciers have changed the overall shape of the valley in which they currently exist or once existed in.

Materials:

• Snow at a temperature just below freezing in order for it to be easily made into snowballs—a 5 gallon bucket should work for a 25 student class.
• Small rocks and sticks
• Several football sized chunks of soft sandstone or other fairly soft rock type
• A large shoe box for sand—about 3 cm of sand in the box is enough
• Hand-lens for each group
• Paper to record data, record observations & answer questions
• Internet access and printer






Suggested Lesson Plan:

1) Show the you tube video “glacial erosion”

2) Discuss how a glacier forms, with it's life cycle. A very dramatic You Tube video is called "Collapse of a Glacier", take a look! If you have the time and need more information, any/all of the "other resources" listed below have a wealth of information about glaciers!
3) Discuss the shape of glacial valley versus a river valley and ask students to describe on their paper why they look the way that they do and how the process works. Use the site USGS "Alaskan Glaciers" to show examples during the discussion. Also question the class as to what they have heard or seen about climate change. How would a rise in global temperature effect the life span of a glacier and the number of glaciers, along with the cultural connection of fresh water needed to maintain a certain lifestyle in a place where glacial runoff is the main source of fresh water? Show the Teacher's Domain video clip "Climate Change Impacts Alaska Glaciers".

4) Divide into groups of four. Each member of the group should be assigned a duty; leader, recorder, glacier creator and earth’s surface creator. Have the recorder write the groups’ hypothesis as to what will happen to the sand and the rock as their “glacier” is rubbed against their surfaces.
5) Using the snow, make a glacier about 2 cm thick and 10 cm wide. When making the glacier, be sure to have students add a couple of sticks and a few pebbles to the underside of the mix. Make the glacier as solid and compacted as possible!

6) Use the glacier to create a valley in the sandbox. Take notes (using correct terminology) on what is observed; shape of valley, any grooves or notches and any other unusual phenomena. Then smooth out the sand in the box, put one end of the box over your textbook and pour 50 ml of water on the textbook end. Record your observations.

7) Make another glacier, this time round and very solid (a hard snowball). Again include the sticks and rocks. Carefully observe the surface of the rock sample you have using the hand-lens prior to scraping your glacier on it. With as much force as possible without breaking the glacier, vigorously rub the “glacier ball” over the surface of the rock many times. Make another observation of the surface and record your findings—again use the hand lens.

8) Students should summarize their findings upon completion of the activity on the paper which includes their observations...stress the use of the correct terminology & assist where needed.


9) Finally, go to Google Earth and take an "Alaskan Motorcycle Trip". During the trip, which can be done quite quickly, take three snapshots of valleys on the way. First a river valley, secondly a glacial valley that no longer contains a glacier and thirdly a glacial valley that presently contains a glacier. Paste the snapshots onto one page per group and collectively compare and contrast the three valleys on the paper next to the three snapshots. While on GE, have the group take one more snapshot of a mountainous area containing a large glacial valley. The Chugach Mountains contains many of areas...the pic should contain(labeled properly by the group members), at least one of each of the following...a cirque, an esker, both medial and lateral moraine, a horn, an arete, a hanging valley and a tarn. Lastly, the group should write at least two comments in reaction to what they heard in the TD video from #3 and as a group, create two questions about glaciers that they have, but were unable to answer...use this as part of the activity conclusion discussion.

**Glacier vocabulary...(a general and not complete list, add or delete as desired)
alpine glacier, continental glacier, flow, gravity, cirque, valley, piedmont, tidewater, advance, retreat, mass balance, ablation, accumulation, moraines, arete, crevasse, esker, erratic, glacial striations, till, terminus, hanging valley/glacier, headwall, tarn and tongue.

Possible Extensions:

1) Take a trip to a glacier, observe the ice, and test its hardness at different elevations in the glacier itself.
2) Go on-line and have students draw and label two “glacial valleys” that they have been to or may have only heard of. Have students find pictures of glaciers on the internet that have dark stripes in them and write a paper as to what is causing the phenomenon.
3) Have students write a paper on “blue ice” that is found in glaciers and why it appears that color.
4) Students could also describe five examples of changes in the earth’s crust of their local area. This could be right in their home-town or within their home state. Students could identify whether the changes observed are natural or man-caused type of changes.

Other Resources:



A couple of other great internet resources for understanding glaciers are;

• "Glacier Power" from the University of Fairbanks


• "Glaciers and Icefields" from the Tongass National Forest


• "All About Glaciers" by the National Snow and Ice Data Center

Evaluation:

• Observe the written findings for each group and discuss any misconceptions found in their write-up.
• Quiz students on parts of a glacier, its color, hardness, crevasses and dark lines. There could be questions regarding length, thickness, color, age and speed at which they travel. Also include, to the depth of your lesson, a physical diagram of a glacial valley to be labeled using proper terms.
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Course Conclusion...My Answer to Essential Question


I believe the use of technology is the answer to the essential question...data collection, TD resources, Google Earth, legitimate You Tube Video, other internet resources and testimony from Native Elders, brings Western Science and Alaska Native views together. I learned much from listening/reading what was presented to us by Teacher's Domain concerning the Alaska Native way of teaching and their view of the world.
Combining decades of native observations & information with data that has been collected by Western Science increases my understanding (I believe it does the same for students) and creates a better overall picture of what is happening climatically for not only Alaskans, but for all humanity present and future!

On a personal note, Teacher's Domain has become an integral part of my Geology, Physics and Physical Science courses...thank you TD for making my job easier and most importantly increasing the engagement and effectiveness of lessons for my students!