I have done a similar activity with my 8th graders. It was interesting to read the information that they had come up with both supporting the concept of global warming and against global warming.
As the experiment showed, the ice that is in the ocean water, will not affect the level of the ocean, but as the land based ice in the polar caps and the glaciers melt, the ocean levels will rise. This rise will cause flooding along shorelines and will affect certain islands. The loss of the polar ice caps also will affect the overall atmospheric temperature and winds. Inland areas will experience warmer temperatures and loss of moisture that affects how crops grow and if certain important crops can be grown.
I would like to research more on how the loss of the polar ice caps affect the Great Lakes where I grow. I would also like to work this activity into an interdisciplinary lesson.
It seems that like you, students would be interested in how the melting of the ice caps would affect the areas they live. That would be a good way to engage students in the concepts that go a long with global warming and the chain reactions.
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