Glaciers--Then and Now

Looking for a good way to demonstrate to your students that glaciers are, indeed, melting?

Check out this great lesson from Windows to the Universe, called Glaciers Then and Now.

It shows eight different Then and Now sequences. Students list glacier names, record and subtract the "then and now" years, and then record two things in the photos that are the same and different.

Email me for a copy of a Glaciers--Then and Now PowerPoint I've made to be used with this lesson. I used their nine page PDF handout of "then and now" photos. I think the PowerPoint would be more effective because the images can be projected in color and would be much larger than those in the packet.

One of the Bonus Questions at the end asks the students what they think caused such drastic changes. If you've already taught or discussed this, you've got a good check on their understanding. If this is the first in a series of lessons, then you have a good measure of what they now know about climate change, etc.

Have fun teaching about GLACIERS!

Videos Covering Redoubt Eruptions

Something to have up and running as your students enter the room!

Grabbing the Moment

Redoubt Volcano 21 April 1990

I believe teachers should grab a teaching moment when it appears. Scrap what you had planned for the day and go with the flow.

IF THE REDOUBT VOLCANO IN ALASKA STARTS ERUPTING, DROP EVERYTHING AND PAY ATTENTION!

Here's a couple of good lesson ideas:

1. If you do Science Journaling, have them write at least 10 facts down as you project different websites about Redoubt. Then ask them to respond to a question, such as, What would we do if we lived within range of this ash cloud? What should your family do? How would you feel if you lived really close to this type of volcano?
2. Or just have them do the above on notebook paper and hand in as a daily assignment.
3. Grab a map of the world and start having your students map the world's currently erupting volcanoes. Add in earthquakes for good measure and you have a good basis for your Plate Tectonics unit! Or review if you've already BT, DT. (Been There, Done That!)

Here are a bunch of great links:

1. Volcanic Ash: What it can do & how to prevent damage http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/ash/
2. (3/23/09) Full details on today's Redoubt Volcano Eruptions: http://www.avo.alaska.edu/a...
3. Geology.com: always a good place to go for Geology updates: http://tinyurl.com/czjldj
4. Redoubt Volcano WebCam: http://tinyurl.com/d4uqxb
5. Current World Volcanic Eruptions Data: Volcano World: http://volcanoworld.wordpress.com/category/volcano-activity-reports/
6. Current World Earthquake Activity: USGS: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/

Have fun grabbing the Teaching Moment!

Email me for a kewl PowerPoint on Mount Redoubt's latest eruption!

Teaching Life Zones in the Ocean

A fun way to teach the Ocean Life Zones is with a simple presentation project.



Use a simple study guide to introduce the topic. As soon as a student has the first page finished, ask them line up by you for a Teacher Edit. Assign them points for the work.

Then assign that student an animal from one of the life zones. Each student researches the animal, makes a "postcard" of their animal on a 4 x 6 note card, including a sketch, and then prepares a short presentation on their animal.



After each presentation, the "postcard" is taped on a large mock-up of the life zones diagram shown in the study guide. You can sketch the diagram in chalk on the chalkboard or draw on a piece of large paper. The rest of the class takes notes on the Notes Page. Hand out the Notes Page during the research phase so they know what needs to be in their Presentation.

HINT: Assign the "coolest" deep-sea animals to the most reluctant scholars and they usually will be willing to participate.

Click here for the Study Guide.
Click here for the Study Guide answers.
Click here for the Student Notes Page.
Click here for a good PowerPoint on this subject. Fun "What Am I?" at the end. Show after presentations!

Be sure to check out the National Geographic channel on YouTube for many wonderful short videos about the ocean!

Teaching Climagraphs

Climagraphs, Climographs, Climograms, Climagrams! Which is it! Actually, I've seen all of the above. The most common is Climographs. They are lots of fun for kids once they begin to understand them.

Basically, a Climograph is a graph that plots temperature and precipitation on the same graph. Since temperature and precipitation are most often used to describe a certain climate, this graph can represent a climate in one distinct image that is instantly recognizable if you know how to read it. In the Climographs here, the Red represents Temperature and the Green represents Precipitation.

If you look at the graph above of Nashville, TN, you can see that it has rain at about the same amount all year long. Contrast this with the Climograph of Phoenix. (NOTE: Click on any of the Climographs to see an enlarged image.)


You can see that Phoenix doesn't get much rain ever, but does get less in April, May and June. There are definitely differences between Nashville and Phoenix as far as Precipitation goes.

But what about the Temperatures of the two different cities? Most kids can see that the Bell Curve is higher in Phoenix than in Nashville. They are similar in that both summers are hotter than the winters. But can you also see that both are quite steep curves? Compare the slope of both curves to that of San Francisco.



See how flat the curve is for San Francisco? The different between the two is an indication of a marine versus a continental climate. Marine = close to an ocean, Continental = in the middle of a continent. Kids love to know they can see these types of differences and relate them to the actual climates of different areas of the world.

Click here for a good source for Climographs for many different cities of the United States.
Click here for some World Climagraphs. Compare ones from the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere. What causes such a big difference?
Click here for a good activity that compares Houston and Moscow.
Click here for one that compares West Palm Beach to Katmandu.
Be sure to check out my Teaching Earth Science website for games that play with the concept of Climographs!