Glaciers

Class Description:

Glaciers have had a dramatic and enduring affect on Minnesota's landscape. With the help of a glaciologist, a hiker, and a storyteller students will learn about what makes glaciers unique, what signs a glacier leaves behind, and the history of glaciers in Minnesota over the last 12,000 years.

Total time: 50 minutes
Audience: 4th grade through adult
Activity level: easy
Travel: none
Total uphill travel: none

Outcomes

Upon completion of the Glaciers evening program students will be able to:

Explain the conditions necessary for a glacier to exist.

Describe and interpret landforms created and affected by glaciers.

Trace the movement and history of glaciers in Minnesota over the last 12,000 years.

Minnesota Graduation Standards

The Glaciers evening program class will provide students with guided practice, in an authentic setting, to support the following Graduations Standards. We have chosen one to three “major focus” standards per grade level. Due to the holistic nature of environmental education, several other standards, not listed here, are addressed as well.

H.S. Sciences : Earth and Space Systems, (B1)
H.S. Sciences 2.5: Environmental Systems, (A)
H.S. People and Cultures Human Geography, (A)

6-8th Sciences : Earth Systems
6-8th People and Cultures : Geography and Culture

4-5th Sciences: Living and Non-Living Systems, (A1, 3-5)
4-5th People and Cultures : Geography and Citizenship, (1-2)

(April 1998 GS edition)

Wolf Ridge Curriculum Concepts

• The earth is a living, changing system.
• Comnponents of an ecosystem include sun, air, water, soil, plants, animals, etc.
• Everything is interrelated and dependent upon these relationships.
• Together, the cycles in nature form a comlex control mechanism for natural systems.

Classroom Connections*

• Journal page download
• Pre-visit activities
• Post-visit activities
• Links to Glacier information and activities on the web

*requires Wolf Ridge password