GETSI Teaching Materials >Ice and Sea Level Changes > Student Materials
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This module is part of a growing collection of classroom-tested materials developed by GETSI. The materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues. The collection is freely available and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses including: general education or majors courses in Earth-focused disciplines such as geoscience or environmental science, social science, engineering, and other sciences, as well as courses for interdisciplinary programs.
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This material supports the Ice and Sea Level Changes GETSI Module. If you would like your students to have access to this material, we suggest you either point them at the Student Version which omits the framing pages with information designed for faculty (and this box). Or you can download these pages in several formats that you can include in your course website or local Learning Managment System. Learn more about using, modifying, and sharing GETSI teaching materials.
Initial Publication Date: December 14, 2015

Student Materials

Welcome Students!

In this module, you will explore the causes of ice mass loss and how changes in ice mass impact sea level. The Greenland Ice Sheet, one of the world's two continental ice sheets, is the study area for this module. As you will learn while completing the module, understanding changes in the Greenland Ice Sheet is a complex problem that requires consideration of different parts of the Earth system, including the cryosphere (ice), atmosphere, ocean, and solid Earth, and how these parts of the Earth system interact with each other. To investigate changes in Greenland's ice mass, you will use a variety of data sets, including air temperature, snowmelt, ice elevation, ice velocity, GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment), and GPS (Global Positioning System). You will also consider how sea level change is already impacting communities around the world, potential effects of future sea level changes, and strategies that communities in the United States and in other countries are taking to prepare for future sea level change. Below, you will find pre-class exercises and links to prepare you for in-class activities and discussions about changes in the Greenland Ice Sheet. You will also find copies of the activities that you will complete during class.

Unit 1: Rising Concerns Over Rising Sea Levels

In this unit, you will learn about how sea level is influencing Bangladesh, and you will think about how sea level changes in the next 100 years will continue to impact the economy, infrastructure, habitability, land use, and residents of this developing country. To prepare for this unit, you will need to read a short article titled "Rising Concerns Over Rising Sea Levels in Bangladesh." In class, you will participate in a discussion based on what you read in the article.

Unit 2: Temperature—A Global Trendsetter

In this unit, you will use air temperature and sea level data to calculate how sea level has changed over the last three decades, you will use these data to predict how sea level could change by the year 2100, and you will think about the factors that contribute to changes in sea level. By completing an in-class exercise, you will learn about the concept of a time series; use time series data to calculate rates of change; and get practice distinguishing between averages and anomalies when reading and interpreting time series data.

Unit 3: Warm with a Chance of Melting

In this unit, you will use a variety of data sets from Greenland to predict where the greatest Greenland ice mass change occurred between 2000 and 2005.

In order to complete this unit, you will need to do some preparation prior to coming to class. First, you will watch a short video about the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite, which scientists use to measure changes in Greenland's ice mass, and you will answer some questions about GRACE. You will also familiarize yourself with Greenland air temperature trends by completing an air temperature preparation exercise.

In class, rather than investigating all of the data sets on your own, you will become an expert in one of three data sets—air temperature/snowmelt; ice velocity; or ice elevation—then work with your classmates who have looked at the other data sets to make a group prediction map. Once your group has made its prediction maps, you will participate in a class discussion about the differences between your predictions and the measurements that scientists have made about ice mass change in Greenland and why your predictions might differ from the actual data.

Unit 4: An Uplifting Story of Sea Level Change

Scientists have installed high-precision Global Positioning System (GPS) stations across Greenland to measure how the elevation of Earth's crust changes as ice sheets grow and shrink. In this unit, you will complete an in-class activity about Helheim Glacier in Greenland to identify the relationship between ice mass changes and changes in Earth's surface. Then, you will participate in a class discussion related to sea level changes that have occurred on geologic timescales. In order to complete this unit, you will need to do some preparation before coming to class. After watching a short animation titled "Glaciers Are Retreating—How Can We Measure the Full Ice Loss?", you will answer some questions about how scientists use GPS to measure changes in Earth's surface due to changes in ice mass.

Unit 5: Regional Sea Level Changes—A Tale of Two Cities

In this final unit of the Ice Mass and Sea Level Change module, you will think again about how future sea level changes may impact the economy, infrastructure, habitability, land use, and residents of specific communities—not Bangladesh this time, but closer to home. After investigating regional sea level trends in the United States using tide gauge data, you will read case studies on the impact of sea level changes on New York City and Southern California, then participate in a discussion with your classmates about these two study areas. Finally, you will learn about how other communities are already attempting to adapt to sea level change and prepare for the future, and you will provide your opinions on the feasibility of these strategies.


     

This module is part of a growing collection of classroom-tested materials developed by GETSI. The materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues. The collection is freely available and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses including: general education or majors courses in Earth-focused disciplines such as geoscience or environmental science, social science, engineering, and other sciences, as well as courses for interdisciplinary programs.
Explore the Collection »