This BBC news report provides footage of the April 2010 glacial lake outburst flood from Lake 513 in Carhuaz, Peru. The flood, caused by a Mount Hualcán avalanche, shows the continued dangers associated with glacier retreat in the Cordillera Blanca. It also offers important lessons about natural hazards and climate change adaptation, as this article and continuing research demonstrate.
"Glacial Balance" teaser from Ethan Steinman on Vimeo.
Steinman launched his career in televison and film in 1995, initially working on television series and commercial spots before moving into the documentary film industry.
His latest project is the film "Glacial Balance", which examines glacial retreat's widespread impacts on the people of the Andes. Steinman hopes to release the film in early 2012. Visit the project's website to learn more.
University of Oregon Glacier Research Video Playlist. This playlist contains YouTube videos that can be used as education resources for grades K-12. To view other videos in the playlist, select the "playlist" button in the menu bar and select desired video, or click on the links below to watch videos on youtube.
1.Glaciers, Climate, and Society Website Introduction
2. Glacial Lake Outburst Flowsin the Quebrada Honda
5. Science Bulletins: Shrinking Glaciers -- A Chronology of Climate Change
7. Fresh Water in the Arctic (Melting Artic Sea)
1. Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears (Grades K-5) |
| Funded by the NSF, the website features standards-based issue themes that include climate change, icebergs and glaciers, and arctic people. The site also grade-level reading material, podcasts, and a superb photo gallery. |
2. Glacier Movement Effect on Earth (Grades K-5) |
| Education.com provides an interactive experiement that allows students to model what happens to the earth's surface when ice moves over the land. |
3. PBS Educators Guide: Glaciers (Grades K-8) |
| Provides a sample experiment to demonstrate glacial melting. Also includes an informational video on glaciers in Alaska. |
4. Climate Education for K-12 (Grades K-12) |
| Designed to help educators understand climate and weather concepts and to be able to incorporate learning material from this site into their class lessons. Contains education material ranging from very simple concepts to more complicated climate and weather issues. |
5. Our Dynamic Earth: Glaciation Workshop (Grades K-12) |
| Designed for educators, this website contains access to lesson materials used in an annual workshop on glaciers. "Glaciers Gone for Good?" allows students to explore the consequences of climate change. The "Ice Deformation Demonstration" explores the properties of ice relating to glacier movement. "A Porridge Glacier" focuses on the concept of glacial flow. Each lesson plan includes the following information: learning intention, task, and success criteria, and a description with directions. |
6. Swiss Education: Glaciers Online (Grades K-12) |
| Contains a database of incredible photos for any glacier education topic including: glacier hazards, ice and water, shaping the landscape, and benefits of glaciers. |
7. U.S. Gelogical Survey Education Resources (Grades K-12) |
| The USGS website contains an education section with resources divided by grade lavel: K-6, 7-12, and undergraduate. Highlights in the K-6 section include links to "Earthshots Satellite Images of Enviornmental Change," activities and a teaching guide related to global change (grades 4-6), and "Common Questions and Myths about Glaciers." The 7-12 section contains links to "Melting Glaciers: Before and After Photos" and a number of resources on climate change. |
8. Windows to the Universe- 'Glaciers: Then and Now' (Grades 4-8) |
| Provides a lesson plan designed to teach the reasons behind and implications of glacial retreat over the last century. The site includes image pairs and a worksheet. |
9. University of Kentucky Interactive Glacier Activity (Grades 6-8) |
| Allows users to examine the effects of precipitation and temperature on glaciers in an interactive module. Provides information about glacier types, anatomy, movement, erosion, and more. |
10. Discovery Education: Glaciers and Icebergs (Grades 6-8) |
| Provides a middle-school lesson plan complete with vocabulary, suggested readings, discussion questions, and more. |
11. National Park Service interactive glacier lesson (Grades 6-12) |
| Provides great educational material on glaciers along with a background essay and discussion questions. The site also links to an interactive tool that visually displays the impact glacial melting could have on the United States' coast lines. |
12. Glaciers and Glaciation practice exam (Grades 6-12) |
| The 24-question quiz gives instant feedback on why an answer is right or wrong. Great tool for learning as well as for evaluation. |
13. NSIDC All About Glaciers (Grades 6-12) |
| The National Snow and Ice Data Center's website on glaciers is a great starting point for any middle- and high-school research project on glaciers. The site includes publications, data & imagery, quick facts, and much more. |
14. Geology.com (Grades 6-12) |
| Geology.com is a great resource for finding information about everything from climate change to water. The site also includes teaching resources and the latest news articles about geology and related fields. |
15. National Association of Geoscience Teachers (Grades 6-12) |
| Contains a number of teaching activities to be run for students in a number of grades. Including, "Modeling Glacier Dynamics with Flubber" and a "Pressure Melting of Ice: Demonstration." |
16. Royal Geographical Society: Glacial Environments (Grades 6-12) |
| The Royal Geographical Society website contains a section on glacial environments. This section contains lessons focused on both physical and social aspects of glaciers. Lessons include cover topics including: why are glaciers shrinking?, where is all the ice?, living with glaciers, and how do melting glaciers afect people? Each lesson has PDF notes for educators as well as powerpoints. |
17. Michael E. Ritter's The Physical Environment (Grades 9-12) |
| Professor Micahel Ritter of the Department of Geography and Geology, University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point, has published an online copy of his text book The Physical Environment And Introduction to Physical Geography. Chaper nineteen of this publication focuses on glacial systems including: glaciation, geological work of glaciers, landforms of continental glaciation, and landforms of alpine glaciation. For educators looking for review questions and quiz questions, this website contains such items. Professor Ritter's personal website also contains podcasts and links to blogs and webprojects relating to the physical environment. |
18. NOVA Glacier Hazards from Space (Grades 9-12) |
| Provides an interactive, in-depth lesson on monitoring glacier hazards from space. Allows for hands-on learning and offers a global context. |