Franz Josef Glacier case study

There is a wealth of informational about this glacier. So many more websites and facts compared to the worlds largest one, so this is probably a better one to show students over the previous blog.

Information:

-Located on the west coast of New Zealand (Westlands National Park)
-Originated in the Southern Alps
-240-2700m above sea level, 11 km long
-Sits alongside greenery of  temperate rain forest

-Cyclic pattern of advance and retreat due to meltwater at the foot of the glacier.
-1940-80's was a retreat stage. 1984 saw the glacier advancing again until 1998 when it experienced rapid retreat
-Overall, it was retreated since the last ice age

-Huge tourism base here. Many tours of the glacier
-250,000 visitors a year
-Guided and unguided walks, yet now need a helicopter to reach them due to its unstable surface
-Has a little village 5km from the glacier

(Much more information and depth can be found on the internet, but above are the basics to develop lessons and ideas for work).


How this could be taught:
-Simply as a case study for an exam
-Split into social, economic and environmental impacts. Essays for and against the tourism/preservation here
-Mini debates. Get students to adopt the role of tourist/hotel/villagers/national park owner etc and argue why should be a destination for tourists or should it be left as a treasure
-Research topic for students to go get information on
-Develop a brochure on the area.
-File a government report against the use of the area as a tourist destination (Could adopt any sort of role and write reports for/against it)
-Make travel poster advertising it for tourists

Lambert Glacier

Some information/case study on the world's largest glacier.

-100km long, 400km wide, 2,500 deep
-Located in East Antarctica
-Appears to consist of a series of ice streams which flow into a tectonic depression. They are then channeled into an outer glacier which forms an ice shelf.
-Ice that forms is first came from the Antarctica Plateau
-Transports sediment from the interior of the Plateau to Prydz Bay
-Prydz bay is where the Amery ice sheet overhangs
-Drain around 12% of the East Antarctica ice volume
-One of the most closely watched glaciers due the the amount of ice it drains
-Moves around 400-800 metres a year
-Amery Ice shelve moves significantly faster at 1000m-1200m
-Losing as much ice as its eastern counterparts.
-Statelite technology is used to track the movement and changes with a glacier.

This case study could be set as a research topic where students work in groups/alone and report back on what they have found and compile a class case study or just keep the work for their own case study. These should be emphasised as important especially for exam questions. Pictures and diagrams can also be added to the case study.

RGS website

http://www.rgs.org/OurWork/Schools/Teaching+resources/Key+Stage+3+resources/Glacial+environments/Glacial+environments.htm

This link is for the Royal Geographical Society. I did not realise that they actually have lesson information for teaching on here and it is broken down into Key Stages and has a variety of material which has already been targeted for different age groups. Thus, this is a fantastic website to refer to when doing lesson planning, especially on topic which you might not know as much about as the information has already been sieved down.

For glaciers:
-Overview
-What students should know by the end of the topic
-Film segments
-Web resources
-Back catalogues of information from National Geographic
-Cross curricular segments (mainly to science and citizenship for this topic)
-Things to download
-Where in the world is ice?
-Why are our glaciers shrinking?
-Living with glaciers
-What land forms of erosion will disappearing ice reveal.
-How will melting glaciers affect people in the UK/other countries

Under each of the above topics from 'Where in the world is ice' to the last one, the topics have been broken down into different sections and are not just a bulk of information. Key question and concepts are raised initially so show what the section is about and what is to be learnt from the topic. There is even an interactive section at the bottom where students/teachers can review all/part of the topic. This interaction part would be useful if the school is really up to date with technology or a computer room was available. Homework could also be set using this, as long as rooms are available at lunch for those who do not have access at home.

Exemplar starters, mains and plenaries are included on the website as well. These a good idea to use/base lessons on, however lesson can be adapted as you see fit/necessary for the types of learners within a class.

The informational under the topics could be split over several lessons, especially for year 7's as it would be too much information to take in and different types of activities and ways of learning could be weaved in to the information. However, it is a good website as a starting point for information, rather than trekking through thousands of irrelevant sites.

Classroom idea - with resource

Using this website:
http://www.windows2universe.org/teacher_resources/glacier_then_now.pdf
The website has a range of glacier pictures of then and now. It also has a linked website with a lesson plan using these pictures

Ideas include:
-matching the old glacier with the new one (Here, you could get students to say why they think it is the same glacier. Get them to focus on the landscape and use vocab associated with changing landscapes)
-Get the students to talk about climate change (Students here should be encouraged to use retreating words and how glaciers are formed/change).
-Talk about the affects of climate change on the world today. If glaciers get smaller, what will change (Linking to the wider world of geography, not just glaciers).
-The Human Affect (How humans contribute to the changes in glaciers and how humans are affected by the change in glaciers).

David Attenborough

I thought there would be some better glacier clips than what I found earlier in my blogging entries if I searched for David Attenborough. This first one is only 1.30min long and is quite good to see quickly and clearly the size of glaciers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fBg8XcCcc8

4 natural world BBC documentaries can be found in full on Youtube. Segments as these can be used in lessons (not just glaciers but other topics which may come up later in the year). The episodes are 1 hour long which I think it too much to expect students to sit through and pay attention through. I'm sure they would rather watch it than do work, but they might not be paying attention so clips could be used to illustrate points. Also, the pitch sometimes of these programmes may be too much, especially for younger years and some content may not be relevant to what is needed to be studied.

Also found
-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQDJk9M-kf0
Actually quite like this little gem. Has gap fills followed by the answer. Gives definition of something glacier related e.g. ice sheets. Also mentions the Titantic, but the film Ice Age which could also be used with younger years. I'm sure there must be some reference to glaciers and I don't mind watching them to find out. Maybe a screen shot could be used in KS3 lessons e.g. draw and label and it could also link to historical events making it cross curricular. This could then feed into climate change issues as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wvs_Tl1CE7c&feature=list_other&playnext=1&list=SPFB6BFF18CBD6ABEB
BBC stock of the Frozen planet. The images captured on this series are fantastic and hopefully might stimulate and engage students just from the fantastic camera work. Even though some of it may not be relevant to learning, if a 2-3 min clip gets students interested, it may be worthwhile for the 20 seconds of information extracted from it.
-Even though full episodes of the Frozen Planet cannot be found on Youtube, I am sure they are available on DVD and could be a worthy investment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrgqRKRvmsE
This is the same sort of idea I was talking about above. Even though the clips focus mainly around the animals, this could be a starting talking point for a younger years lesson e.g. Where do these animals live, what do they need to survive and link this to the environment and landscape which can be also seen in the video. A video like this plays into more interesting viewing and thus hopefully makes it more memorable and makes the students more engaged. It is less than 4 minutes long and could provide a good started activity. The images shown in the clip are just fantastic

Titantic

I thought the Titantic story line may somehow be of use when learning about glaciers. The story I assume is pretty much universally known, especially after the re release of the film and the 100 year anniversary, making it fresh in students minds. An exert from the film could be shown to visualise what a mass of ice looks like. Even though it is an iceberg, this could be the starting point, especially for those who have no idea what glaciers are. Questions could then be asked e.g. what do you think it is made from, where did this come from, where do you think they are in the world to build up an idea and sense surrounding glaciers. (Some of the answers could actually come from the film itself e.g. somewhere cold, yet encouragement could be used to think where they might be in the world. It would have to be stated that a glacier is not an iceberg, however it might be easier for year 7's to think of a glacier as a giant iceberg that is located on the land rather than floating around at sea. 

After reading some information about primary schools and cross-curricular activities, this Titantic idea may link into that. Students may have studied the Titanic or watched the film in an English lesson so could have an idea about the story line and the history which could be weaved into how we think about glaciers/icebergs in geography. 

Also, the film is easy enough to get hold off/find on youtube which makes it an easy opener or main for a lesson. Screen shots could also be taken to show the size of the iceberg so students can visualise the 'giant iceberg' aka the glacier. 

What if the students have no idea what a glacier is?

A comment from Phil highlighted this and this is such an important and valid point.

What is the students have no idea what a glacier is? They have never seen one or heard of one and cannot relate to it. The latter point was sometimes my issue with physical geography - I just could not relate to it and it therefore did not interest me and I found it harder to learn about.

Therefore, an initial starting point should be with the idea that students (may) have no idea what a glacier is. At the moment, I am doing my preliminary placement in a primary school with year 5/6's so with them in mind,  here are a few ways glaciers could be introduced:

-Simply pictures of Antarctica etc and getting them to describe what they see. See what words they can come up with. Powerpoints are a good way of doing this
-Finding some video content which is relateable with the age group who are learning about the subject. (There was a TV show from 2005 on the BBC for children called serious Arctic. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1963777/ states if you sign up you can watch the episode where the children visit a glacier. 25 mins log. Also http://musaddiqia.blog.com/2012/06/14/hd-dvd-serious-arctic-online/ Really hope these are not an illegal sites.) Anyway, I vaguely remember watching a similar programme to this when I was younger about the Amazon I think. It's produced by the BBC for CBBC. It takes a bunch of kids to the Arctic and they have to visit areas, do tasks and live out there. All aged 12-14. This one particular episode they visit a glacier and actually get stuck there showing to to be an extreme landscape. Most importantly, it is written by 12-14year old for this age group, sharing their experiences and it teaches children through other children, which hopefully they can relate to. Of course, it would not be the be all and end all of glaciers, but it might be a way to introduce the topic so the studetns can get a rough idea about glaicers and see others there and hear about their perspective. It also allows emersion in the topic without the students fully realise they are learning.


However, after watching the Solo Taxonomy video, it is also important to recognise and establish what students already do know. This could be done prior to them even seeing a picture and just hearing the word.