I love this activity!

This is a wonderful example of a hands on investigation that students can perform when studying climate change, acids or bases, or water quality. I am going to use it with my earth science ... See More

This is a wonderful example of a hands on investigation that students can perform when studying climate change, acids or bases, or water quality. I am going to use it with my earth science class when we study glaciers. Teachers using this investigation do need to plan ahead as it does require extensive prep time. I am going to make my ice cores over the holiday break and keep them in my deep freeze until I need them.

Inquiry with Ice Cores!

In this very clever activity, the teacher creates ice cores for students to investigate so that they can see that there are actual layers and to do experiments with those layers. The authors... See More

In this very clever activity, the teacher creates ice cores for students to investigate so that they can see that there are actual layers and to do experiments with those layers. The authors set out a set of sample procedures for those who are not comfortable with inquiry but point out that giving students the goals will eventually lead them to determining the same procedures on their own. I do something similar with soil layers/horizons but I never thought to extend it to ice cores - very nice way to show students how data is collected on paleoclimates!