Grade Level:
Time Period: Two –
three fifty-five minute class periods
Benchmark: Explain
the surface features of the
Lesson Objectives
- Students will understand how different land features are created due to the continental form of glaciers.
- Students
will discover evidence that supports the theory that
- Students
will know students to think about what it would be like if an ‘Ice Age’
were to occur during their future.
Ask for volunteers to talk about their ideas. What would it be like if this were to
happen? Would the glaciers ever
reach
Key Concepts/Vocabulary
Continental Glacier (ice sheet): a glacier covering at least 50,000 square kilometers and unconfined by topography
Drumlin: an elongate hill of till formed by the movement of a continental glacier
Esker: a long ridge of stratified drift formed by deposition by running water in a tunnel beneath stagnant ice
Abrasion: the wearing and scraping of exposed rock surfaces by the impact of solid particles
Stratified Drift: glacial drift displaying both sorting and stratification
Materials
Internet Visuals Photos
Teaching Strategies
and Methods
Lecture Brainstorming Journal Entries Discussion
Content
I. Anticipatory Set
II. Review
a. Glacier: mass of ice composed of compacted and recrystallized snow flowing under its own weight on land: agent of erosion and transports, deeply scouring the land it moves over, producing many landforms as well as depositing sediment creating other landforms
b. Types
i. Alpine Valley: mountainous or highland regions
ii. Continental: flow out in all directions from a central area of accumulation
1. Ice Sheets
c. Ice Age: periods of time when large areas of the Earth are covered by ice sheets
i. Causes of Ice Ages
1. Multiple Hypothesis: no definite answer
2. Plate tectonics, change in atmospheric/oceanic circulation patterns, changes in the shape of the Earth’s orbit or orientation of its rotational axis
3. Milankovitch Theory: a theory that explains cyclic variations in climate and the onset of glacial episodes as a consequence of irregularities in earth’s rotation and orbit
d. Pressure: the weight of glaciers cause deformation and flow
e. Movement
i. Advancement: when an area receives net accumulation of snow
ii. Retreat: when more snow melts in an area than accumulates
1. Even though a glacier may be retreating, forward flow exists
III. Glacial Features
a. Glacial Deposit
i. Till: sediment deposited by glacial ice or meltwater: unsorted
ii. Moraines
1. End moraines: forms when glacier becomes stabilized in one position for some time
2. Ground moraines: irregular rolling topography as glacier retreats and deposits till
3. Recessional moraines: after a glacier has retreated and then stabilizes, producing another deposit
4. Terminal moraines: the outermost moraine, marking the greatest extent of the glacier
iii. Drumlins: formed when till has been reshaped into elongated hills
1. It gently slopes pointing in the direction of ice movement
2. Rarely found alone
b. Glacial Erosion & Transport
i. Transports unconsolidated sediment and soil which comes from the surface the glaciers move over
ii. Areas tend to be smooth and rounded
iii. Rather flat topography with rounded hills
iv. Erratics: large boulders
v. Abrasion: bedrock develops a glacial polish
vi. Striations: straight scratches
c. Other Features
i. Outwash Plain: the sediment deposited by the meltwater discharging from the terminus of a continental glacier
ii. Kettles: circular to oval depressions
1. This forms when a retreating ice sheet leaves a block of ice that is buried and leaves a depression behind
2.
iii. Eskers: long ridges that may meander and have tributaries
1. Formed due to river lake water within a glacier system
iv.
IV. Real World
a.
i.
Virtually all the geographic and topographic features
of
ii.
Till: found to be dominant in
iii.
Moraines: parallel to the
iv. Kettles
v. Eskers -figure three
vi. Drumlins
vii. Land Rebound: Occurred after the glacier retreated and its weight was removed from the land surface
b. Great Lakes Formation figure one & four
i. May have been originally rivers
ii. Glaciers moved through the rivers, widening and deepening them
Web Site
www.great-lakes.net Students will discover new ideas about glaciers
in the
Real World Context
Assessment
|
Criteria |
Apprentice |
Basic |
Meets |
Exceeds |
|
Journal Entry (grade based on
entire journal section: turned in at the end of each term) |
Student has completed ¾ journal entries or less; or ½ are
incomplete or do not meet the length requirements |
Student completes most entries but has some incomplete or
not meeting length requirement |
Student completes each entry and length requirement. |
Student completes each entry and may elaborate/exceed
length requirement. |
|
Quiz |
10/20 or lower |
11/20-15/20 |
16/20-18/20 |
19/20 or greater |
Bibliography
Wicander & Monroe Essentials of Geology 1999
Internet Activity: How The
- Go to http://www.great-lakes.net
- Click on “Search”
- Type in TEACH
- Scroll
down until you find “TEACH
- Scroll
down until you find “watch the formation of the
- Scroll down until you see the pink box, click on FLASH version (if computers allow it)
- Click the arrow buttons to view the various clips.
- In
your journals, describe five things in short essay form that you did not
know about
- Credit as always is given by completeness and accuracy-look at your “Journal Entry Rubric” for further clarification.
QUIZ (20 Points)
- List
three features in
- Explain the Milankovitch Theory.
- How does a kettle lake form?
- What
is the basic concept of how the
- What
type of glacier once covered
- Explain
what till is?
- List two possible explanations of what causes an Ice Age.
- How can drumlins tell us the direction of ice movement?
- What two processes produce the characteristic features of glaciers?
- b.
- What is an Ice Age?
FIGURE ONE
FIGURE TWO
FIGURE THREE
FIGURE FOUR
