SHADOW Lake Nature Preserve

PO Box 58963 // 21656 184th Ave SE

Renton, WA 98058

shadowhabitat.org

(425) 432 4914

Glacier Advance and Retreat Lesson Plan

Materials Per Table Group

“Glaciers” (ice cubes with soil and gravel) – 1 or 2 per table

1 tray of dry soil

1 tray of sand

Pencils or pens for each student (colored pencils are optional)

Introduction

  1. Hand out worksheets for students, ask them to find seats at their tables.
  2. “Today, we are going to be geologists (scientists who study the earth and the processes that form/shape the earth)”.
  3. Ask students what a geologist is? What do they study? Why?
  4. If we had a time machine and could travel back in time 15,000 years, what would we see here? (glacier – persistent body of ice moving constantly under its own weight).
  5. Ice was 3,000 feet thick! *5 space needles stacked on top of each other
  6. It extended all the way from Canada to Olympia
  7. How do you think that effected the land here?  Let’s find out!
  8. * Before imitating activity outline your expectations:
  9. Scientists study and observe
  10. Must only use what you’re instructed to touch
  11. Give everyone a turn
  12. Keep tables and area as clean as you can

Activity: Hand out glaciers and Soil and Sand Trays to each table

  1. Ask students to observe their glacier and draw/describe it on their worksheet (Q#1)
  2. What do they observe?
  3. Ice and rock; sizes of rock? Texture of surface? “Why does it have rock in it? How did it get there?”
  4. Have them sketch Indentations, water collecting, jagged edges, rocks sticking out
  5. Give opportunity to record different sides and if they have two glaciers- record both.
  6. Explore the soil tray! (Q#3) Ask “how glaciers move?”THEY ONLY MOVE ONE WAY. Tell students to imitate the movement of glaciers and record what they observe! – (Q#4) when ready – press slightly harder, do you get a different result?
  7. Glacier creates a trough, pushes soil to the sides, glacier gets covered in dirt
  8. Harder push = move more dirt
  9. Explore the sand tray! What is different? What’s the same? Write and draw your observations. (Q#5)
  10. Sand has smaller grains than dirt
  11. “Do you think the container of sand weighs same as container of dirt? Which would be heavier? “
  12. “Dirt sticks to the glacier more than sand – why?” It’s absorbing water!
  13. “Is all dirt the same? What is different about different kinds of dirt?”
  14. “Do you think that a glacier’s movement is affected by the kind of dirt below it? “
  15. “What does this mean for Maple Valley and Renton??”
  16. Shadow Lake was formed by glaciers! How?
  17. Area scraped out then filled with water
  18. Much like the lowest points in our glacial trough
  19. This is how the Puget Sound was formed too!
  20. Allow students another opportunity to explore the glaciers. This would be the chance for them to move them back and forth if they need to. Explain why this could never happen in nature. This might be a good time to define terms like moraine and till. – Q#

SHADOW Lake Nature Preserve stewards critical habitat,increasesaccess to green spaces, and provides inclusiveenvironmentaleducation to cultivate a land use ethic throughout the Puget SoundRegion.