Iceberg of Antarctica
Summary
After exploring the various hands-on, art, kinesthetic activities, and electronic resources after reading the book: Iceberg of Antarctica by Marlo Garnsworthy, students will develop, create, and produce their own children's book and accompanying artwork to demonstrate their understanding of one of the topics covered in the book that they investigated.
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Context
Audience
4-6th grade science, English Language Learners, Students with Special Needs, Non-Formal Education, Science Club
Skills and concepts that students must have mastered
Compare and contrast, different places on the earth experience different temperatures and season at different times, state of matter (solid, liquid, gas), density and buoyancy (sink/float), identify patterns, and cause and effect.
How the activity is situated in the course
Multi-day unit of study culminating in a project.
Goals
Content/concepts goals for this activity
Students will be able to describe iceberg buoyancy, how seafloor sediments are used to investigate past climates, and how scientists communicate complex topics with everyday people.
Higher order thinking skills goals for this activity
Students will compare and contrast, make observations and inferences, identify patterns, describe cause and effect, and interpret complex topics through artistic expression.
Other skills goals for this activity
Students will create artwork (digital or hard copy), create podcasts, identify patterns, diagram and create a working K-W-L chart.
Description and Teaching Materials
All links to activities are embedded within the unit plan.
Unit Plan Iceberg of Antarctica (Acrobat (PDF) 776kB Mar2 21)
Transcript of Marlo Garnsworthy reading Iceberg of Antarctica (Acrobat (PDF) 685kB Mar2 21)
Transcript of Marlo Garnsworthy interview (Acrobat (PDF) 576kB Mar2 21)
Iceberg of Antarctica read by Marlo Garnsworthy video file (MP4 Video 6.6MB Mar2 21)
Marlo Garnsworthy interview video file (MP4 Video 125.7MB Mar2 21)
Teaching Notes and Tips
Possible Preconceptions/Misconceptions:
Glacial icebergs are formed quickly, glacial icebergs are only made of water, sea ice and glacial icebergs are the same thing, timescale, animals associated with icebergs (polar bears, seals, penguins), where icebergs can be found, glacial icebergs are made of saltwater, Glaciers erode by pushing rocks. There is only one season in the Polar Regions. (Polar Regions are dark, frozen places year-round.): Temperatures are similar at both poles. Snow and ice make it cold. The Polar Regions are not important for global climate.
Assessment
Formative Monitoring (Questioning / Discussion)
Changes in position of terms on KWL chart for icebergs. If chart is made with sticky notes, students can move terms to new locations after they have learned about the topics. Art products from art activities, accurate kinesthetic enactment and analogy use, products from hands-on lab activities.
Summative Assessment (Quiz / Project / Report)
Students develop, create, and produce their own children's book including podcasts that demonstrate their understanding of one of the topics investigated in the unit.
References and Resources
All resources and links are embedded within the unit plan.
Learn more about the International Ocean Drilling Program (IODP)
See more resources for educators from IODP