This week in the course we needed to complete an experiment on our own. I loved doing the experiment, I felt like I was a college student again! After reading through the entire assignment, I found that when reading through the procedure, I thought I had done the experiment before and so I didn't read the whole procedure. I realized that my students probably think the same thing and so they don't read the procedure of written out experiments either. :)
Anyway, I did collect some very interesting observations throughout the experiment. The experiment made me think about how the ice was melting and how it connected to real ice caps. I noticed that there were tons of air bubbles in the ice which escaped as the ice melted. It made me think about how ice caps must do the same thing and that the volume that the air takes up in the glacier must be less when it melts so how can sea levels rise? I thought about would the sea levels actually shrink when they melt, but then I realized that not all glaciers were in the oceans and that they were on land. (Kind of a silly thought). When I added water to the glass cup and the ice floated to the top, the surface tension made the water bubble up like a dome, but as it melted, it didn't change. Which makes sense according to the principle of displacement from Archimedes. :)
Then, of course, I added some water, and the water of course overflowed. This made me think more about how the glaciers melting from Greenland or other areas around the world are adding to the "cup" or the sea level of the Earth. That for me was a scary moment that it could in fact occur that the sea levels do rise, but how is science going to fix this?
There are many things that could occur if the polar ice caps melt though that we need to think about. One thing is the gulf stream being affected and another is the amount of fresh water being mixed in with salt water. The salinity of the water will decrease which may effect algae and other organisms who require a specific salinity in the water. Another thing would be the density of the water being affected, salt water is heavier, so that would mean the fresh water would stay on top more naturally until mixed by wave action. The gulf stream may shut down and not carry the cold water away from the Arctic or the warmer waters from the equatorial area of the planet and many animals would be affected because the food sources would not be there where they expect them to be. Also, with watching the ice melting in the cup, after being lumped together, they began breaking away and the force from breaking apart, made them float apart. That can't be good for the gulf stream either.
The polar ice caps are a concern, but glaciers should be more of a concern around the world which are located on land because they have not displaced the sea water yet until they reach them. Is there any way that we could collect this glacial water and use it? Are scientists thinking of this yet? What are governments doing around the world about the melting of glaciers? There is a lot of water being dumped into the oceans and seas from the melting glaciers and the storms are getting worse. Nature is changing, the question is: How will we adapt or will we? From this one experiment, so many questions and so many thoughts have been provoked.
In the fall, my 6th grade students found that the temperatures of a cup of water with crushed ice gets much colder faster but also warms up faster than a cup of water with ice cubes. This was an experiment we did when we were investigating how the size of ice (glaciers) would affect the oceans temperatures when they melt. They realized that the surface area is a big factor in how fast the ice melts and the drop in temperature. This experiment would have been good to show them as well to show them that the melting ice in the ocean does not affect the sea level, but it's the water running from the land that will.
After thinking about this activity, I remembered a video that my son found and put on his Glog about Glaciers back in the fall. Here it is. It's quite interesting if you want to have a look. It's a video from Sky News.
Anyway, I did collect some very interesting observations throughout the experiment. The experiment made me think about how the ice was melting and how it connected to real ice caps. I noticed that there were tons of air bubbles in the ice which escaped as the ice melted. It made me think about how ice caps must do the same thing and that the volume that the air takes up in the glacier must be less when it melts so how can sea levels rise? I thought about would the sea levels actually shrink when they melt, but then I realized that not all glaciers were in the oceans and that they were on land. (Kind of a silly thought). When I added water to the glass cup and the ice floated to the top, the surface tension made the water bubble up like a dome, but as it melted, it didn't change. Which makes sense according to the principle of displacement from Archimedes. :)
Then, of course, I added some water, and the water of course overflowed. This made me think more about how the glaciers melting from Greenland or other areas around the world are adding to the "cup" or the sea level of the Earth. That for me was a scary moment that it could in fact occur that the sea levels do rise, but how is science going to fix this?
There are many things that could occur if the polar ice caps melt though that we need to think about. One thing is the gulf stream being affected and another is the amount of fresh water being mixed in with salt water. The salinity of the water will decrease which may effect algae and other organisms who require a specific salinity in the water. Another thing would be the density of the water being affected, salt water is heavier, so that would mean the fresh water would stay on top more naturally until mixed by wave action. The gulf stream may shut down and not carry the cold water away from the Arctic or the warmer waters from the equatorial area of the planet and many animals would be affected because the food sources would not be there where they expect them to be. Also, with watching the ice melting in the cup, after being lumped together, they began breaking away and the force from breaking apart, made them float apart. That can't be good for the gulf stream either.
The polar ice caps are a concern, but glaciers should be more of a concern around the world which are located on land because they have not displaced the sea water yet until they reach them. Is there any way that we could collect this glacial water and use it? Are scientists thinking of this yet? What are governments doing around the world about the melting of glaciers? There is a lot of water being dumped into the oceans and seas from the melting glaciers and the storms are getting worse. Nature is changing, the question is: How will we adapt or will we? From this one experiment, so many questions and so many thoughts have been provoked.
In the fall, my 6th grade students found that the temperatures of a cup of water with crushed ice gets much colder faster but also warms up faster than a cup of water with ice cubes. This was an experiment we did when we were investigating how the size of ice (glaciers) would affect the oceans temperatures when they melt. They realized that the surface area is a big factor in how fast the ice melts and the drop in temperature. This experiment would have been good to show them as well to show them that the melting ice in the ocean does not affect the sea level, but it's the water running from the land that will.
After thinking about this activity, I remembered a video that my son found and put on his Glog about Glaciers back in the fall. Here it is. It's quite interesting if you want to have a look. It's a video from Sky News.
Janice,
ReplyDeleteThe video was quite interesting.
Your point about valley glaciers made me stop and think....if these melt, what would happen? Many of these glaciers are consdiered tourist attractions, or are located near heavily populated areas. So, not only do we have to worry about the sea levels rising, but also the likelihood of large amounts of ice and water falling down mountains.
Right, and what about the people who have used the glacial water for centuries to irrigate their crops? Once the glacier is gone, what will they do?
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